A 46664 concert will be staged in Johannesburg on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2007.I am very delighted that we are engaging the youth in schools, communities and through the media, breaking the silence and stigmas around HIV and AIDS and making them realise that the power to beat the pandemic lies in their own hands.

 46664 will announce new campaign ambassadors, performing artists, and celebrity guests in the coming weeks.

Every day, an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 young people between the ages of 15-24 years old become infected with the virus. Globally, it is estimated that there are over 10 million young people living with HIV, 63% of whom live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Young women, ages 15-24, are more likely than young men to be HIV positive.

The overall goal of the Empowering Africa’s Young People Initiative (EAYPI) is to scale up evidence-based programs that promote healthy behaviors in order to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among youth, ages 10 to 25 in Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Over a five-year period, the project aims to reach over 500,000 youth and 200,000 adults, through support from a US$8.5 million grant from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Programmes that exclusively encourage abstinence from sex do not seem to affect the risk of HIV infection in high income countries, finds a review of the evidence in this week’s BMJ.  This also calls into question the continued use of public money to fund abstinence only programmes in the United States.

Abstinence only programmes encourage sexual abstinence as the exclusive means of preventing HIV infection, without promoting safer sex behaviours, but their effectiveness in high income settings remains unclear.

At present, thirty-three per cent of HIV prevention funds from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) are used for abstinence only programmes. This limits the funding available for other safer sex strategies. Domestic US programs also receive substantial federal and state funding.

A pre-existing review has already examined programme effectiveness in low income countries, so researchers at the University of Oxford reviewed 13 trials involving over 15,000 US youths to assess the effects of abstinence only programmes in high income countries.

Compared with various controls, no programme had a beneficial effect on incidence of unprotected vaginal sex, number of partners, condom use, sexual initiation, incidence of pregnancy, or incidence of sexually transmitted infection. The US Senate has agreed to extend funding of community based abstinence education (CBAE) to $141m which, in view of this evidence, needs to be reconsidered, they argue.

Women in sub-Saharan African who undergo female genital mutilation are increasingly at risk for HIV/AIDS.  Because FGM is coupled with the loss of blood and use is often made of one instrument for a number of operations, the risk of HIV/AIDS transmission is increased by the practice. Also, due to damage to the female sex organs, sexual intercourse can result in lacerations of tissues, which greatly increases risk of transmission. The same is true for childbirth and subsequent loss of blood.

Countries where FGM is common -- including Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Djibouti -- an estimated 55-60 percent of HIV infections are among women.

Researchers analyze how reducing between young women and older men and delaying sexual debut may be important in cutting HIV's spread at the population level in Africa.

"At the individual-level, avoiding sex with older partners and delaying sexual debut can decrease the risk of infection," concluded the authors. However, "at the population-level, these interventions may do little to limit the spread of HIV without wider-ranging behavioral changes throughout the sexual network."

.Dwayne Lawson-Brown, 23, has worked and volunteered for Metro TeenAIDS for the past seven years. He started an "open-mic night" at FreeStyle: an evening when young people can come to the center and sing, rap, or read poetry

Desha Smith, 15, is a peer outreach educator for Metro TeenAIDS. She is small for 15, and at first she seems like she might be too shy to walk up to other teenagers on the street, hand out condoms, and talk to them about HIV.

The national planning committee is proud to announce this year’s theme for the fifth annual National Latino AIDS Awareness Day: Wake up, Take Control, Take the HIV Test. On October 15th, over 1,000 institutions in 350 cities across the continental United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands sponsor activities that respond to the state
of HIV/AIDS among Hispanic/Latinos and Hispanic/ Latinas in their specific communities. Our partners throughout the country will host a variety of activities to raise awareness on the impact of HIV/AIDS in the Hispanic/ Latino community. Please join us in commemorating National Latino AIDS Awareness Day 2007

Young adults aged 20-30 underestimate the risks that overlapping sexual relationships pose for contracting HIV, warns a new study from the Centre for AIDS Development, Research & Evaluation (Cadre).

The research has important implications for the design of HIV prevention campaigns, which have generally concentrated on youth aged 15-20 , and focused on the "A (A)bstain, B (B)e Faithful, use a C (C)ondom" mantra. "It's important to evolve away from the ABC message because it's far too simplistic," said Cadre executive director Warren Parker.

Concurrent sexual partnerships are a major risk factor for contracting HIV . About 33% of women and 12,1% of men aged 25- 30 are HIV infected, according to the Human Sciences Research Council.  Many respondents separated sex and love, saying they had sex with love for a "main partner" and sex without love for "other" partners.

Rather than seeing faithfulness meaning having monogamous relationships, many respondents understood it as protecting their main partner from knowing that they were having other relationships. "I am faithful to (my girlfriend) because even when I have other girlfriends I do not walk around with them for her to see," said one young man.

 Studies conducted in several sub-Saharan African countries have revealed that women and girls engage in intergenerational sexual relationships without the protection of condoms, giving cause for concern about HIV transmission. These relationships often occur against the girls’ will and for many reasons, including reasons associated with subsistence.

The present study examines the dynamics of intergenerational sexual relationships among schoolgirls in Botswana

Sex education and women's rights advocates have called for the public to be more open-minded about young people carrying condoms as it is an effective means to protect themselves and society.

The group defended the health ministry's controversial TV campaign spots Yued Ok Pok Thung (Proud to carry condoms) as being well-intended and not being about teenagers' sexual desires.

Critics, including some NGOs and members of the public, said the TV spots, which encourage youths to carry condoms wherever they go, have damaged Thai culture and even encouraged teenagers engaging in sexual activity.

But participants at the seminar mostly agreed that sex is commonplace in today's society and it should even be a ''duty'' of young people to carry condoms to protect themselves and their partners from unwanted pregnancy, HIV/Aids and other sexual diseases.

Among subjects who were not on ART, heavy alcohol consumption was associated with a lower CD4 cell count (adjusted mean decrease of 48.6 cells/[mu]L compared with abstinence; P = 0.03) but not with higher log10 HIV RNA. Among subjects who were on ART, heavy alcohol consumption was not associated with a lower CD4 cell count or higher log10 HIV RNA.

Conclusions: Heavy alcohol consumption has a negative impact on the CD4 cell count in HIV-infected persons not receiving ART. In addition to the known deleterious effects of alcohol on ART adherence, these findings suggest that avoiding heavy alcohol consumption in patients not on ART may have a beneficial effect on HIV disease progression.

The testing event, held inside a mobile unit, was organized by the Alpha Phi Alpha-Beta Nu chapter fraternity and The Tie that Binds, part of the South Carolina African-American HIV/AIDS Council.  Students who wanted to get tested first filled out a sexual history survey with a counselor's help. Then the students were given a finger-prick rapid HIV test and a number, with test results available in about 15 minutes. Outside the van were pamphlets about HIV/AIDS, other STDs, safe sex, and a basket of free condoms. Door prizes were also being offered.

The balloon, with the words "Vrij Veilig"—Dutch for "Safe Sex"—was launched by the public health service in the eastern district of Gelre-Ijssel, near the German border.

The director of the health service, known by its Dutch acronym GGD, said the festival was an ideal opportunity to reach young people. More than 80,000 are expected to attend the three-day Zwarte Cross event—a combination motor-cross race and hard rock concert, with Dutch gothic metal band "Within Temptation" headlining.

NEW DELHI, May 17 (Reuters) - Banning sex education on the grounds that it offends Indian sensibilities puts young lives at risk and jeopardises the fight against AIDS, a top official said.

Six Indian states have banned sex education for adolescents or refused to implement the curriculum, saying the course material was too explicit or that it was against Indian culture."We are not giving ideas to young people," National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) chief Sujatha Rao said. "They are already there."

"Some people are in denial that young people experiment with sex. They need to get real," she told Reuters late on Wednesday.

When parents talk to and affirm the value of their children, young people are more likely to develop positive, healthy attitudes about themselves. This is also true when the subject is sex. Research shows that positive communication between parents and their children can help young people establish individual values and make healthy decisions.

 Initiating conversations about the facts of life may be difficult for some parents because they did not grow up in an environment where the subject was discussed. Some parents may be afraid they do not know the right answers or feel confused about the proper amount of information to offer. To help, this section of Advocates for Youth's Web site—Parents' Sex Ed Center—contains all of the information and resources you need to begin talking with your children about sex.

The Transgender Cultural Competency Training Project was developed to address disparities in access to services for HIV positive transgender clients and to assist providers to improve the delivery of services to the transgender community

Most of the programs were based in schools and directed at children in grades five through eight. One was intended for adults ages 18 to 21. There were various control groups, including some in modified programs and in some cases in no program at all. Compared with those control groups, abstinence-only programs had no significant effect in either decreasing or increasing sexual risk behavior.

Seven of the trials tracked sexually transmitted infections, finding no significant short- or long-term benefit to abstinence-only programs. None of the programs made any significant difference in preventing pregnancy, reducing unprotected sex, or delaying sexual initiation.

"We hope our review encourages a closer look at the empirical research regarding H.I.V. prevention programs," said Kristen Underhill, the lead author and a research officer at the University of Oxford. "It appears that this evidence base is frequently neglected in debates over abstinence-based prevention."

“WE ARE NOT YOUR PAWNS”

Democrats on the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Service, and Education (LHHS) Committee put their stamp of approval on abstinence-only programs, despite a 10-year federal evaluation of the programs released in April showing that abstinence alone simply does not work. The Democrats increased the spending on the programs by 25% bringing the total to $140 million - more than the highest level of funding granted by the former Republican-controlled Congress.

A few weeks ago, Democratic leaders said they were using the abstinence-only funding to help grease the bill’s progress through Congress and the White House. With this strategy, they are sending a message that it’s fine to include really bad ideas in an appropriations bill as long as it moves the legislation forward.  Right now, the United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world, and each year America’s teenagers contract an estimated 9.1 million sexually transmitted infections and approximately two young people every hour of every day are infected with HIV.

Adolescent males who hold traditional beliefs about masculinity may think that seeing a physician is unmanly or a sign of weakness, a new report suggests. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Children's Center and their colleagues analyzed data on about 1,700 males ages 15-19.

Half the boys endorsed what the researchers identified as 'traditional beliefs' about being a man, agreeing that 'Men are always ready for sex' and 'It is essential for a guy to get respect from others.' These boys were less likely to see a physician.  Boys who discussed sexual issues with parents were more likely to visit a doctor, said Marcell. For boys with a traditionally masculine orientation, speaking with their fathers was helpful.

"They are just as likely to believe myths about condoms and to have got more of their sex education in the playground than the classroom.

"We spend a fortune educating students, but leave them ignorant about key issues in their adult lives. It's hardly surprising that rates of sexually transmitted infections are soaring."

Abstinence-only sex education programs are not effective in preventing or delaying teenagers from having sexual intercourse, according to a recent report. The report, which was commissioned by Congress, followed 2,057 U.S. teenagers in late elementary and middle school who participated in four abstinence programs, as well as students in the same grades who did not participate in such programs.

The abstinence education programs "had no impact on the age of first sex," Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said in a statement following the release of the report, adding that the programs also "had no impact on the number of partners, ... reported rates of pregnancy" or sexually transmitted infections. He added, "In short, American taxpayers appear to have paid over one billion federal dollars for programs that have no impact

Keren was in Buenos Aires along with Victoria, a 13-year-old Uruguayan who is also living with the AIDS virus, for the Fourth Latin American and Caribbean Forum on HIV/AIDS and STDs.

Victoria and Keren were the central figures at the presentation of "Ynisiquieralloré" (And I Didn't Even Cry), a book that presents the personal accounts of girls and teenagers living with HIV, which was published by the regional chapter of the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW-Latina) with the support of UNICEF, the United Nations children's fund. 

One of the studies, conducted between November 2006 and January 2007 with support from UNAIDS, found that 77 percent of respondents between the ages of 15 and 24 had heard of the HI virus, but only a little over half knew how to protect themselves from infection. some 76 percent of street children had no knowledge of HIV prevention and treatment programmes, while almost all (95 percent) sexually active street children - mostly those in their late teens - engaged in casual sex.

More than 52 percent of Tajikistan's 7 million citizens are under the age of 19, with street children estimated at between 8,500 and 9,600.

This is followed by a series of comic videos set in Manica, about a man who thinks he may have HIV and his eventual decision to be tested, and more discussion; then another video, this time of a puppet having the courage to tell another puppet that she is not ready for sex. Afterwards, contestants are picked from the audience for a mock quiz show about what they have seen.  A dance party caps the evening, often featuring the music of local artists.

A 12 year old lost both his parents to AIDS-related illnesses 18 months ago. He now spends most of his time doing odd jobs in people's gardens to support his three siblings, the youngest of which is five. The children have remained in the grass-thatched mud house left by their parents. "It is not easy, but we are surviving.”

Twaina Hare, 18, also dropped out of school to care for her two younger sisters when their parents died of AIDS-related illnesses. "Life is becoming unbearable," she said. UNAIDS estimated in 2005 that 91,000 people out of 940,000 living with HIV in Malawi were children under the age of 15, and 550,000 children had been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. The organisation has also estimated that stigma and discrimination are relatively high among young Malawians.

We know teens are having sex and opting for oral sex over intercourse because they think it's safer. Now a team of UCSF researchers may be the first to analyze how it makes adolescents feel.

High school students surveyed at two California high schools between 2002 and 2004 revealed mixed emotions that for many included guilt and feeling manipulated. We tend to focus on the health consequences of having sex, like pregnancy and STDs, but we also need to talk to them about all the emotional consequences. Girls were twice as likely as boys to report feeling bad about themselves, and nearly three times as likely to feel used, according to the UCSF research. Boys were more than twice as likely as girls to report experiencing popularity and self-confidence. This report suggests what many teens come to find out on their own: Even if sexual activity seems casual, it often is not. A casual hookup on a Friday night might not feel that way a month down the road.

"A lot of people know footballers, they look up to us, and I think we should all fight AIDS together." During the video, Ballack delivers key HIV prevention messages while demonstrating the footballing skills he is so famous for on the pitch. AIDS statistics are displayed on the stadium's big screen: "During the course of a 90 minute football match more than 500 people will have died of AIDS, 180 under 25 years old."

Brazil's health ministry vowed on Tuesday to proceed with plans to put condom vending machines in schools and sought to defuse criticism with a new study showing that parents in the world's largest Roman Catholic nation approve of the idea. Brazil's health ministry has been offering free condoms and sex education for more than a decade in some schools as part of an AIDS-prevention program that has been recognized worldwide for its success in avoiding an epidemic of the sexually transmitted disease.

To increase condom distribution, the ministry recently launched a contest for technical schools to design a better condom vending machine and will award $25,000 to the team of students with the best design. A study found that 45 percent of students aged 13 to 19 already had an active sex life and that 60 to 70 percent had used condoms to protect against unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS.

The National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Strategic Leadership Council gave a Call to Action for the 26 cities with the highest AIDS cases affecting African Americans/Blacks to host a "RE-Sound the Alarm Town Hall Meeting" between now and February 7, 2007. The purpose of the town hall meeting is to let African American/Black communities know this epidemic has not gone away and we still rank the highest in most categories. We are asking for state and local health departments as well as non governmental organizations to work together to host town hall meetings in areas where African Americans/Blacks are disproportionately affected.

RAP-IT-UP is BET’s call to action, grassroots HIV/AIDS awareness campaign designed to address the epidemic in the African American community. RAP-IT-UP seeks to help African American youth and families protect against HIV/AIDS related illnesses and diminish the incidences of HIV/AIDS.

Rap It Up is the nations largest HIV/AIDS public education campaign reaching African Americans. In a recent national survey, more than nine in ten young African Americans (ages 18-24) recognized Rap It Up.

When it comes to setting the mood for safe sex, pleasure seems to be more of a motivation than fear of pregnancy or disease.

Authors of "Viewpoint" in this week's issue of leading U.K. medical journal The Lancet say campaigns promoting condom use should emphasize how they can enhance the "fun factor" of sex. "Since pursuit of pleasure is one of the main reasons that people have sex, this factor must be addressed when motivating people to use condoms and participate in safer sexual behavior," the authors say in the "Viewpoint."

Auntie Stella: Teenagers talk about sex, life and relationships was originally produced by Training and Research Support Centre as an activity pack for young Zimbabweans aged 13 to 17 years, and later developed as a website.
t aims to encourage young people to discuss key teenage issues, and also gives information that teenagers find hard to get elsewhere. Both the print and website versions use the question and reply format of problem page letters written to aunts in magazines, a popular source of information for young people.

Male students led the revolt against condom use; female students would not insist on condom use for fear of losing their boyfriends. A surprising number of female students depended financially on their boyfriends. "Female students are afraid that their partners would leave them in case they insist on condom use," the report commented.

One female student majoring in Social Science was quoted as saying, "I think ladies always have this fear that if they refuse to do what he [the sexual partner] is saying, they may lose him and he goes to somebody else. I think there is always this element of fear - what if I lose him? Then you decide that you should abide by what he says."The university distributes free condoms, but students criticised these as being of "poor quality".

She has decided to use her title to let the world know how AIDS is devastating the U.S. Latino community. Latinos make up 14 percent of the U.S. population, but account for 20 percent of all those living with AIDS in the United States today.

An approach linking peer educators has now been formulated in partnership with the Swaziland Youth Congress. "The grassroots approach is the best. The peer educators know their communities better than administrators. The initiative is currently bringing peer educators together for refresher workshops on 'Youth Behaviour Change Strategy.. "Youth responds best to youth -people relate to their contemporaries," said Maxwell Jele, national director of the youth congress. "If we are to turn the corner on AIDS, it will be by utilising youth."

Critically acclaimed documentary features narration by Glenn Close and Will Smith.

A film about the global AIDS epidemic filmed on four continents over a period of three years. A Closer Walk depicts the realities of global AIDS, and explores the relationship between health, dignity, and human rights. Filmed on locations in the United States, Ukraine, Uganda, South Africa, India, and Haiti, and offers personal stories of children, women, and men around the world who are affected by the disease. Those caring or advocating for people living with AIDS are featured prominently in the