BBC: Report warns of HIV catastrophe
The BBC has an article on a newly released report from the United Nations Population Fund on the high amount of young people being infected with HIV and the findings are alarming. According to the report a young person is infected with HIV every 14 seconds!
Around 6,000 people between the ages of 15 and 24 catch the disease every day.
Half of all new infections are now in people under the age of 25 and most of these are young women living in the developing world.
Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, executive director of the fund, said urgent action is needed to tackle what she described as a "global catastrophe".
The report also offers other depressing statistics:
...nearly half of the world's population is under the age of 25. Of these, 87% live in developing countries.
One in four or 238 million live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $1 a day.
Some 57 million young men and 96 million young women between the ages of 15 and 24 cannot read or write.
More than 13 million children under the age of 15 have lost one or both parents to Aids.
The report suggests that poverty, illiteracy and poor services are combining to help spread HIV among young people.
The report shows that two out of three young people with HIV are female.
In sub-Saharan Africa, women account for 67% of young people who are HIV positive. In Asia, the figure is 62%.
The report says that many women in developing countries are unable to protect themselves against the disease.
In many cases, they do not know how it is spread. In Somalia, for instance, only 26% of females have heard of Aids and only 1% know how to protect themselves.
It is obvious that more funding is needed to help eradciate this problem.
"This is not just a public health issue. This is a global catastrophe that demands urgent global action."
