Report says more AIDS education needed for youth
Aids Policy and Law 11(5): 4-5
1996
ISSN/ISBN: 0887-1493 PMID: 11363267 Document Number: 248462
A report issued by the Office of National AIDS Policy, the National AIDS Fund, and Until There's a Cure Foundation, calls for increased and improved AIDS education for young Americans. President Clinton asked for the report after learning that half of the Americans annually infected with HIV are under the age of 25. The report recommends early education, the inclusion of safer-sex techniques in sex education curriculums, availability of counseling without parental consent, and school-based, community-based, and home-based prevention. Conservative politicians and elected officials are calling for a limit to AIDS education. Criticism of the report includes its failure to tailor prevention and education efforts to meet the needs of gay and bisexual youth. A survey found that many young gay and bisexual men are contracting HIV at alarming rates because they disregard warnings against high-risk sexual behavior.