Youngsters know about AIDS but behaviour doesn’t change

ONE in every five young people request voluntary HIV testing in Namibia but 90 per cent of them do not return for the results, a study released yesterday says.

The study was done to assess HIV risk behaviour among the youth by interviewing 1 000 young people between the ages of 10 and 24 in the Kavango, Omaheke and Ohangwena regions. It found that knowledge of HIV transmission and prevention was high among the youth but awareness of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) “extremely low”.However, Unicef Representative Khin-Sandi Lwin was quick to point out that the study was by no means representative of all young people in the country.”It only provides a glimpse of a sample group, so the findings should be interpreted with care,” she said at the launch of the report.According to the report, behaviour change is still elusive in Namibia.Although people know about HIV-AIDS, they still think that it will not happen to them.Girls and women still cannot negotiate their sexual relationships and make informed choices for themselves, while young people still cannot fight against negative peer pressure.”AIDS-infected people and children are still being stigmatised and are still not able to speak out against abuse and neglect,” Lwin said.According to the study, more than 46 per cent of the interviewed young people had premarital sex the past year and were still sexually active, while 75 per cent used a condom when they had sex the last time.Most started having sex at the age of 15 but one in three had sexual intercourse before that age.It said over 80 per cent of the young people admitted that they had discussed HIV with their parents while only 51 per cent discussed sexuality with them.The study was conducted by Research Facilitation Services (RFS) for Unicef during March and April this year.It found that knowledge of HIV transmission and prevention was high among the youth but awareness of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) “extremely low”.However, Unicef Representative Khin-Sandi Lwin was quick to point out that the study was by no means representative of all young people in the country.”It only provides a glimpse of a sample group, so the findings should be interpreted with care,” she said at the launch of the report.According to the report, behaviour change is still elusive in Namibia.Although people know about HIV-AIDS, they still think that it will not happen to them.Girls and women still cannot negotiate their sexual relationships and make informed choices for themselves, while young people still cannot fight against negative peer pressure.”AIDS-infected people and children are still being stigmatised and are still not able to speak out against abuse and neglect,” Lwin said.According to the study, more than 46 per cent of the interviewed young people had premarital sex the past year and were still sexually active, while 75 per cent used a condom when they had sex the last time.Most started having sex at the age of 15 but one in three had sexual intercourse before that age.It said over 80 per cent of the young people admitted that they had discussed HIV with their parents while only 51 per cent discussed sexuality with them.The study was conducted by Research Facilitation Services (RFS) for Unicef during March and April this year.