Wednesday, October 3, 2007

HIV Unawareness

This article is about HIV awareness, or lack thereof. The Health Protection Agency in the UK took a survey and found about 90% of people from ages 16 through 24 to not factor in risk of contracting HIV in their sexual decisions. Surprisingly, though, 41% considered themselves at risk! The article posits that this is due to the age group having missed out on the surge of informational campaigns in the 1980s. However, being in this age group, I feel that this cannot be the reason. Perhaps I am in a bubble of virus-lovers, but I feel that many of today's youth know about HIV and how to protect themselves. (Another interesting point in the article was that many participants thought HIV could be spread by kissing and by toilet seats.) I understand that demographics affect the level of knowledge on the subject; however, I believe this survey was taken in the UK, although the article does not make this clear. I would think that young adults in the UK would know about the same amount of information as those in America, but I could be wrong.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7022497.stm

Jasmeen Miah

No comments: