awareness and knowledge of the HIV virus.

Peer influence: Youth are curious and can be easily influenced by peer pressure. They often
use or abuse drugs within their peer groups and are often guided by the peer norm, where
drugs may be considered normal.
“At the age of 14 I a had friend who tried drugs, so I knew in full detail how drugs are
made and used. The very first injection grabbed hold of me and I began to do drugs
regularly [7].” Dima, Belarus
Limited awareness: Young IDUs often have limited education, awareness and knowledge of
the HIV virus. Information and communication material that may be available is often not
written for young people. They may know little about the drugs, their effects, the risks
associated with drug abuse, especially drug injection, safer injecting practices and reducing
their risk behaviour. Young IDU have been found to engage in higher levels of needle and
syringe sharing than older IDU [8]. A United Nations report released in July 2002 reported
that the vast majority of the world’s young people have no idea how HIV is transmitted or
how to protect themselves from the disease. “Young people actually don’t have the proper
knowledge to protect themselves. The tragic consequence is that they are disproportionately
falling prey to HIV [9].”
In countries with generalized HIV epidemics, such as Cameroon, Central African Republic . . .
more than 80 per cent of young women aged 15 to 24 do not have sufficient knowledge about
HIV. In Ukraine, although 99 per cent of girls had heard of AIDS, only 9 per cent could name
three ways to avoid infection [9].
“For at least four years I was using the needle knowing hardly anything about the kinds
of viruses you can catch, in using in unsafe ways [8].”
Unawareness of risks: Risks to health may be regarded as distant or remote as young IDUs
do not experience the complexity and severity of health problems as often as they may be
encountered by older IDUs who have injected for longer (abscesses, gangrene . . .). It may
be difficult for young IDUs to understand the need for prevention efforts when they have
not experienced health problems as a result of their own injection drug use.
Limited access to services: Services are often perceived by youth as unfriendly to young
people. Young IDUs are often unaware of the existence of health, social, legal and welfare
services that could be of help to them. They may not know how to access these services.
Some services are geographically inaccessible to youth. Some countries have waiting lists
in health services, and in hospitals—this can lead youth to give up on receiving any help.