Project fights spread of AIDS
By Wang Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-09-21 03:32

When young people encounter problems, who do they want to talk to first?

Liu Yan, 19, a Beijing college student, said she first wants to talk with her peers instead of her teachers or parents, when she is faced with uncertainty.

Liu has learned lots from her friends and schoolmates, including information on HIV/AIDS prevention.

Thanks to a young peer educators campaign, many young people in Beijing learned from their peer educators how to protect themselves from HIV, drug addiction and unwanted pregnancies.

Sponsored by the All-China Youth Federation and United Nations Economics and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the three-year peer educators project has trained more than 1,800 young migrants on the issues of sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention.

"No longer simply a health problem, the HIV/AIDS pandemic is becoming a development disaster, especially serious among young people," said Ren Wei, a programme director of the project and a professor with China Youth University for Political Sciences in Beijing.

Ren said the project has engaged in disseminating accurate information about methods of transmission, safe practices and counselling services through non-formal education and networks, in order to reach students, young migrant workers, institutions and communities.

Through non-formal education measures, including group discussion, group study, street survey and life skill training, the peer educators project has focused on promoting knowledge on HIV/AIDS prevention among young migrants.

Since the first HIV/AIDS case in China in 1985, the country's total infected population has reached 1 million, dominated by young and middle-aged people between 15 and 49, official figures show.

More than 65 per cent of HIV/AIDS infected people are aged between 16 and 29.

Facing the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS, the Communist Youth League, the country's top youth organization, issued a strategic plan for HIV/AIDS prevention among youngsters in 2002.

The central committee of the league launched the Youthful Red Ribbon programme in 2002 to provide practical and effective services to the young for prevention of the disease and advocating a healthy life style among young people.

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