National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day- Educate Yourself

Although Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day was last week, we should still educate our youth of the dangers of unprotected sex. Youth are disproportionately affected: About 1 in 4 HIV infections occurred in youth ages 13-24. About 12,000 youth, or about 1,000 per month, were infected with HIV.About 60% of all youth with HIV do not know they are infected, are not getting treated, and can unknowingly pass the virus on to others.Young gay and bisexual men account for the greatest number of new infections, and among them, over half (54%) are in African Americans.Among young women 86% contracted HIV through heterosexual sex and 13% from injection drug use. HIV/AIDS just doesn’t affect one specific group, it affects us all; the more we advocate for greater health care access,leadership,  and education for our youth, the better we can fight against this epidemic. Having the awareness day promotes free HIV testing, starting intellectual conversation about hiv/aids, and fighting the stigma associated with it. We must continue to invest in our youth because they are the future leaders of our country. Please GYT( get yourself tested)! with full awareness we can reach an AIDS free generation!