#YouthStats: HIV/AIDS

  •  In 2013, an estimated 4.96 million people aged 10-24 years were living with HIV.
    [WHO, HIV and young people who inject drugs, 2015, p.4, http://goo.gl/CwBN2t]

  • Young people aged 10–24 years constitute one-quarter of the world’s population, and they are among those most affected by the global epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) [UNAIDS, A Technical Brief, 2015, p.4, http://goo.gl/5Fc6Nh]

  • There were 250,000 new HIV infections among adolescents in 2013, two thirds of which were among adolescent girls [UNAIDS, All In, 2015, p.6 http://goo.gl/06mAZT] 
  • Young people, 15 to 24 years old, account for 40% – and in certain countries even for 60% – of all new HIV infections among adults [WHO, Fact Sheet on Adolescent health, 2015, http://goo.gl/IASMK1] 
  • AIDS is the second most common cause of death among adolescents globally, and the leading cause of death among adolescents (10-19) in Africa [UNAIDS, All In, 2015, http://goo.gl/06mAZT] 
  • Among young people who inject drugs aged 13–19 years diagnosed with HIV in the United States in 2011, 61.7% were African American and 21.3% Latino, far higher than their proportion of the overall population. [WHO, HIV and young people who inject drugs, 2015, p.9, http://goo.gl/3YpSeO]

.

Women

  • Young women aged 15–24 years are  up to 8 times more likely than men to be HIV positive. [UNFPA & UNICEF, Co‐Chairs of the United Nations Adolescent Girls Task Force, 2011, http://bit.ly/R7ATei]
  • Adolescent girls and young women are most vulnerable to HIV in sub-Saharan Africa: they account for one in 4 new HIV infections. [UNAIDS, 2013, http://bit.ly/1HeLNaV]
  • In conflicts, adolescents, particularly girls, are especially vulnerable to sexual violence, which further increases the risks of unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortions and STIs including HIV. [UNESCO, 2011 http://bit.ly/1Lop5wW]

Prevention

  • Only 24% of young women and 36% of young men in developing countries responded correctly when asked five questions on HIV prevention and misconceptions around HIV transmission. [UNAIDS, 2013, http://bit.ly/1HeLNaV]
  • Young people still have limited access to high quality education, and sexual and reproductive health programmes for HIV prevention and treatment. [UNAIDS, 2013, http://bit.ly/1HeLNaV]

PDF Version: Youth Stats: HIVAIDS