HIV among young people

HIV among young people
An estimated 5 million people young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are
living with HIV. An estimated 900 000 new HIV infections occurred among young
people in 2008. Among young people living with HIV, nearly 80% (4 million) live
in sub-Saharan Africa. The HIV epidemic has been harsh on the lives of young
women, who comprise 66% of infections among young people worldwide. The vast
majority of these infections among young women occur in sub-Saharan Africa.
More than half of all sexually transmitted infections (more than 180 million out of
a global annual total of 340 million new infections) other than HIV occur among
young people aged 15 to 24.
Programmes to protect young people from HIV must use combination prevention
approaches that are friendly to young people. In countries with generalized and
hyperdendemic epidemics, programmes for young people must promote comprehensive
services that include knowledge about HIV, sexuality education, access to
sexual and reproductive health services and discussion on harmful sexual norms
and practices।
HIV prevalen ce trends
In 16 countries, HIV prevalence trends among 15–24-year-old pregnant women
showed a decline in either urban or rural areas. Of these, in 12 countries a decline
of 25% or more was observed in antenatal clincs surveys. In Kenya there was a 60%
change between 2000 and 2005. HIV prevalence dropped from 14.2% in 2000 to
5.4% in urban areas and from 9.2% to 3.6% in rural areas in the same period. Similarly
in Ethiopia there was a 47% change in HIV prevalence among pregnant young
women in urban areas and 29% in rural areas. In Côte d’Ivoire HIV and Malawi
prevalence among pregnant urban young women declined by 56% and by nearly
half in Burundi and Haiti. In rural areas reductions of more than one third were
observed in Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Lesotho, Namibia, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
In six of the seven countries with repeated population-based HIV surveys, a decline
of HIV prevalence was seen among young women over time, while only four
showed a decline among young men. Declines in HIV prevalence among men in
South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania have been significant. Similar
trends have been observed among women in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe।
Study methodology
Trends in HIV among young people
between the ages of 15 and 24 is considered
a proxy for assessing trends
in HIV incidence because the onset
of sexual activity in this age group is
expected to be recent and there are
relatively fewer AIDS-related deaths.
Twenty-one countries with an estimated
adult HIV prevalence of more
than 2% in 2007 contributed data
on HIV prevalence among pregnant
women between the ages of 15 and
24. In addition, sexual behaviour and
HIV prevalence data from national
population-based surveys were also
analysed for seven countries.
The behaviour change indicators
analysed included:
1. The percentage of young people
15–19 years who reported having
had sexual intercourse by the age
of 15 years
2. The percentage of young men and
women aged 15–24 who reported
having had sexual intercourse with
more than one partner in the past
12 months
3. The percentage of young men and
women aged 15–24 who had more
than one partner in the past 12
months and who reported having
used a condom during the last
sex act
Data for these behavioural indicators
were obtained from surveys conducted
between 1990 and 2008 (demographic
health surveys, multiple indicator
cluster survey, national populationbased
survey of the Human Sciences
Research Council in South Africa).
Linear and exponential regression
curves were fitted for each country
using prevalence data collected from
sites that were consistently included in
sentinel surveillance between the
years 2000 and 2008 in order to
assess whether there have been
changes in HIV prevalence over recent
years and if they were statistically
significant. Trend analysis was done
only for countries with at least three
points. The analysis was conducted
separately for rural and urban areas
where possible. For countries that
conducted two or more national HIV
prevalence surveys between 2000 and
2008, the HIV prevalence among
15–24-year-old young men and
women was taken from the published
reports and compared between the
different survey years. Chi-square
tests were performed to assess
whether differences in prevalence
were statistically significant at p <0.05.