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Many Youths in East Asia, Pacific Lack Knowledge on HIV/AIDS: UNICEF Survey
Many children and adolescents in East Asia and the Pacific appear woefully unprepared to deal with the rapidly growing threat of HIV/AIDS in the region, according to the results of a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) survey released Monday.
The survey was conducted among about 10,000 children and adolescents aged 9-17 years in 17 countries and territories in the region.
Some 60 percent of those 9-13 years old and 25 percent in the 14-17 age group say they know "absolutely nothing" about HIV/AIDS or know "only the name."
Countries and regions with the highest rate of children and adolescents saying they know "absolutely nothing" or "only the name" in regard to knowledge about HIV/AIDS were East Timor (98 percent), Laos (68 percent), Indonesia and Philippines (62 percent), Mongolia (54 percent), China (48 percent) and the Republic of Korea (47 percent).
In countries such as Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia, the number of respondents lacking basic knowledge on HIV/AIDS ranges from 23 percent to 36 percent.
Statistics show that some 2.4 million people are already infected with HIV/AIDS in East Asia and the Pacific, and it is projected that the level of new infections will increase dramatically in the region over the coming years.
The survey employed face-to-face interviews with young people in their homes, without the presence of parents or other third parties that might have influenced their responses, according to a UNICEF officer.
"The results of this survey should serve as a wake-up call to the governments and societies in this region on how much more needs to be done to educate young people, especially about HIV and AIDS," said Mehr Khan, regional director of UNICEF's East Asia and Pacific Regional Office.
"AIDS knows no borders and no country can consider itself immune. If this region is to avoid the fate of sub-Saharan Africa, where the spread of the epidemic has been truly catastrophic, we need decisive and urgent action," Mehr Khan said.
Youths Optimistic About FutureChildren and adolescents in East Asia and the Pacific are generally optimistic about the future, according to a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) survey released Monday in Beijing.
The UNICEF survey, "Speaking Out! Voices of Children and Adolescents in East Asia and the Pacific," was conducted among some 10,000 children and adolescents aged 9-17 years in 17 countries and regions in the region.
The survey shows that about 80 percent of respondents believe their lives will be better than that of their parents, while some 74 percent think life in their communities will be better in the future than it is now.
Another major focus of the survey was young people's knowledge of rights and their perception of whether those rights are being respected.
The survey found that although 61 percent of the respondents say children have rights like adults, only one in five claims to know "a lot" about those rights.
The 39 percent of respondents who answered "no" or "do not know" to the question of whether children have rights, represents some 117 million children and adolescents across the region, according to the UNICEF.
In addition, more than 20 percent of the respondents believe their rights to information, freedom to express ideas and opinions, and not to be hurt or mistreated are not respected in their countries.
The sample is representative of some 300 million young people in the 9-17 age group, and it is believed to be the largest and most comprehensive survey of the views of young people ever carried out in the region, according to UNICEF.
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