World AIDS Day: Who’s Positive Calls For Immediate Action To Prevent HIV/AIDS Among Youth In The United States
November 29, 2006 – 4:12 pm | posted in HIV / AIDSWith World AIDS Day rapidly approaching and 2006 being the 25th year of the AIDS epidemic, Who’s Positive is calling for parents, schools, faith based organizations and political leaders to bring immediate action to help reduce infection rates among America’s youth. Who’s Positive is a national organization focused on bringing HIV awareness to youth through first-hand accounts of young adults already living with the virus.
Tom Donohue, Founder and Executive Director of Who’s Positive, said, “The stark truth is that teens, like it or not, are having sex! Parents must realize that their teenagers may be engaging in risky sexual behaviors. The next wave of HIV infections is becoming today’s youth - youth who have limited access to condoms and lack easy access to getting tested. Parents, communities, schools and faith-based organizations must push past the taboo of sex to discuss and provide resources for young adults who engage in sexual activities with or without their parents knowledge.”
In a recent non-scientific survey conducted by Who’s Positive during programming to 1800 high school students in Gainesville and Pensacola, Florida approximately 95% of high school students admitted they, or someone they knew within two years of their age, were sexually active. Also, according to Child Trends Facts at a Glance approximately one in every four sexually active 15 to 24 year olds contracts an STD each year.
“As a parent of three teenagers and an educator, parents must wake up and take this stand as the first educator of our children and as an educator call to our schools to immediately bring comprehensive sex education to the forefront. We have an obligation when students are telling us they are sexually active to act,” said Janine Plavac, Director of Academy of Health Professions at Gainesville High School.
Who’s Positive strongly urges parents to bring forward school board proposals allowing schools to provide free condoms, offer better peer-to-peer comprehensive sex education programs and to work with local agencies to provide free rapid HIV testing to high school and college students. These resources will allow youth to empower themselves to know their HIV status ultimately helping to decrease infection rates among young adults.
Half of all new HIV infections occur in those under the age of 25. According to the CDC, over 40,000 young adults have been diagnosed with AIDS and over 10,000 living with AIDS have died since the beginning of the epidemic.
“No matter what we teach them, America’s youth are going to continue to have sex,” added Donohue. “On this World AIDS Day, we need to commit ourselves to give teens all the tools they need to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS.”
On December 1, 2006 Who’s Positive will wrap up a 48 day nationwide HIV testing initiative called Operation Get Tested using first hand accounts of young adults living with HIV as a way to encourage peers to be tested. Thousands of young adults have turned out to programming and hundreds have empowered themselves to know their status.
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