Do you know that :
Every 13 seconds another person contracts HIV.
Every 15 seconds another person dies from AIDS
Source: UNAIDS
Worldwide HIV Epidemic
New global HIV estimates, released by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO), underscore the continued severity of the HIV pandemic. An estimated 33.2 million adults and children are living with HIV at the end of 2007, including 2.5 million newly infected according to UNAIDS. The epidemic is not homogeneous. Sub-Saharan Africa bears the brunt of the pandemic, accounting for more than two-thirds (68%) of persons living with HIV and more than three-quarters (76%) of deaths in this year.
In many countries in Africa young people ages 15-24 account for over 50% of the of new HIV infections. Factors such as peer pressure, unprotected sex, lack of maturity, and alcohol and drug use put young students at risk for HIV infection. Young people may have unprotected sex while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, which they ordinarily might not do. Abandoning safer sex techniques, failing to use condoms correctly and consistently, and having sex while under the influence can lead to possible infection with HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases.
