youth

My colleague Hope Hempstone posted an interesting blog entry on reaching youth with new media based on her attendance at an interesting session on Tuesday of the conference.  In a field where it becomes so easy to rely on the same old media channels (or at least using TV, radio and print media in the same old way), it's both refreshing and inspiring to hear about those that are breaking from this norm.  Check out her post at: http://psicommunications.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/08/reaching-millio.html

(good thing we're all working on that!)

 

The venerable medical journal the Lancet dedicated its pre-IAC issue to HIV-prevention, what editor Richard Horton called “the neglected issue in the AIDS response.” On Wednesday, contributing authors called for a reinvigorated movement for prevention that demands a comprehensive, multifaceted approach, including structural change. Mirroring the Caucus for Evidence Based Prevention critiques of narrow definitions of evidence, the distinguished panel also called for investment in flexibile, realistic monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.

 

Jeffery O’Malley, director of the HIV and AIDS group at the UN Development Program, opened with the history of HIV-prevention, urging us to remember when prevention and epidemiology were all the AIDS community had enough information talk about. In the early 80s, he recalled, “gay men and drag queens invented safe sex, and they still haven’t been given the Nobel Prize.”

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What is standing out for me at the conference is the need to focus on investment and programs for and research of the most at-risk groups – men who have sex with men, drug users, sex workers and prisoners.

Let’s be frank, this is no “save the children” kind of cause - generally people are afraid of these groups and don’t know much about them. I’ve had a lot of global experiences in my life, but I have never spoken directly with a sex worker or prisoner (to my knowledge). With so many sex workers here, I can surely change this soon.

Simple prejudices and impressions aside, the numbers tell a shocking story. Of global AIDS expenditures, only 1.2 percent is spent on specific responses to men who have sex with men. This totals $3 million out of the estimated $30 million needed according to UNAI

“Less than 10% of high risk populations are receiving appropriate prevention.” Alex Coutinho, Executive Director, Infectious Disease Institute Uganda. In Uganda, a prisoner is more likely to die of AIDS than any other cause.

Outside of Africa, drug users, sex workers and men who have sex with men make up the vast majority of those contracting HIV. It’s amazing after 25 years and billions of dollars, we are not able to better address these populations. There is research and success stories that document what works in these populations, especially in Mexico and Brazil.  read more »

Young people --predominantly young women -- make up 40% of new HIV infections worldwide (UNAIDS, 2007). And during a workshop session on August 2 for the Youth Pre-Conference, young men and women proved that they are capable of making sound policy recommendations when it comes to their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

I co-facilitated a workshop session entitled Understanding Public Policy, with Brian Ackerman of Advocates for Youth and Andrew Francis of Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network. We led an exercise where young participants deconstructed proposed legislation, U.S. global AIDS policy, and ABC (Abstain, Be Faithful, and Use Condoms) policy guidance distributed by the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator. Afterwards, the participants broke out into groups to develop sound policy recommendations based on that deconstruction for presentation to lawmakers and governments responsible for overseeing the implementation of global AIDS policy through programs and services.  read more »

Young people want female condoms.  They are seeking information and better access to them.  They are demanding the only effective and currently available method to prevent HIV that young women and women can initiate themselves.

This groundswell of interest in female condoms surfaced at the Mexico YouthForce Pre-Conference, particularly during a workshop I co-facilitated around expanding prevention options for women and girls.  To my elation, virtually all of the 40 workshop participants had heard of female condoms, and more than half had seen or touched one.  For female condom advocates, this is a rare and exciting encounter.

But the sobering refrain throughout the pre-conference was that while many youth are passionate about female-initiated prevention options, including the female condom—they remain largely inaccessible in a wide range of countries, even for young women and men who go out of their way to find them.

One young woman from Mexico visited ten stores in her local community before she was able to find one that sold female condoms.  Yet another Mexican woman passed me a hand-written note during my presentation, stating that her peer education organization is interested in obtaining female condoms but doesn’t know to whom or where to turn, or how to pay for them.  read more »

by Annelies Mesman, youth rapporteur and CHOICE board member, and Vanessa Brocato

“Universal Action Now!”— more than 300 young people from around the world gathered for 3 days before the International AIDS Conference to empower each other to move beyond rhetoric to concrete action.  As part of Mexico YouthForce, young leaders led discussions on not only HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and care but also the range of sexual and reproductive health and rights and social justice issues that intersect with and complicate responses to AIDS.

“Hope is here.  Adults don’t know the challenges we are facing; they are guessing.  You can never be successful if you design any program for young people without them.  This is for all the adults here: Let the Mexico YouthForce speak!” said Igor Mocorro, a 21 year old from the Philippines.

Prior to this event, 125 young people from 46 countries worked together, communicating virtually, to create key messages of the Mexico YouthForce.  Throughout the Banamex, posters will carry the following resulting slogans:

•    Rights: we have a right to comprehensive, accurate information and services to protect our sexual health.
•    Respect: for our realities, our experiences, and our contributions.  read more »