The article begins by telling us that a 16 year old Kenyan girl has contracted AIDS. Her mother had died when she was six years old and she was doing anything she could to provide for her younger sisters. This led her to have sexual relations with many different men. Global Health Organizations stated that AIDS is now the leading causing of death for adolescents in Africa and is the second cause globally. About 120,000 people aged between 10-19 years died of AIDS related illness in 2013. The most affected in the world are Sub- Sahara Africa adolescent girls. In South Africa in 2013 more than 860 girls became infected with HIV every week, compared to 170 boys. Social- economic factors see girls having sex at younger ages. They also might try to date an older man to provide for them which can make them more likely to experience sexual abuse and rape. UNAIDS said it aims to reduce HIV infections in adolescents by 75 percent, and AIDS- related deaths by 65 percent by 2020. They plan to conquer this by providing more counseling and education outreach to a targeted adolescent age-range globally.
Analysis:
I believe it is very sad that these young girls were not taught about the effects of AIDS and all of the STDs they can contract from having unprotected sex. I think that if the girls were taught how to use condoms or were at least aware before having sex how horrible this disease is then they would make different choices in their life. If the girls realize they can make a living off of something other than having sex with different men then it can allow them to live a longer and healthier life. I think what UNAIDS is striving to do is a great thing and hopefully will help reduce the number of AIDS contracted by young girls. A little bit of education can go a long way and can save many girls lives in the future.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/groups-aids-number-1-killer-of-adolescents-in-africa/2015/02/17/8cfc7aee-b6a7-11e4-bc30-a4e75503948a_story.html
Kelsey Bryant
2/20/15
11:46am
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