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by Emily Bridges, Director, Public Information Services
Teen condom use over the last 2 decades has increased but work is still needed. In this week’s MMWR on trends in HIV-related risk behaviors among high school students we learn that while condom use among sexually active high school students has increased over time (from 45% in 1991 to 60% in 2011), it has leveled off since 2003 – indicating that progress has stalled. Among Black students, who experience higher rates of HIV than white students, condom use has actually decreased significantly since 1999. Lawrence Stallworth, an activist with Advocates for Youth and Cleveland AIDS Task Force, commented on the rise in new infections among young African American men who have sex with men in this AP article.
A new report from the Black AIDS Institute has devastating news about the HIV epidemic and Black gay men: “A young Black gay man has a roughly 1-in-4 chance of being infected by age 25. By the time he is 40 years old, the odds a Black gay men will be living with HIV is roughly 60%. One can scour the entire world and struggle to find a population more heavily affected by HIV/AIDS than Black gay in the U.S.” Lawrence Stallworth is also profiled in this report!
A blog entry from AIDS.gov explains the “treatment cascade” and how initial gaps in diagnosis and treatment lead to millions without adequate care. “For every 100 individuals living with HIV in the United States, it is estimated that: 80 are aware of their HIV status; 62 have been linked to HIV care; 41 stay in HIV care; 36 get antiretroviral therapy (ART); and only 28 are able to adhere to their treatment and sustain undetectable viral loads.
The drug Truvada was recently approved as “pre exposure prophylaxis,” meaning that people who are at high risk for HIV may use it as HIV prevention. Here is a list of frequently asked questions about Truvada from the maker of the drug. More guidance as to its usage is expected from the FDA and other public health entities by the end of this year.
The Journal of the American Medical Association found that of the nearly 192,000 people living with HIV in the United States, 31,000 were born outside the United States. Many immigrants experience strong barriers to HIV diagnosis and treatment, also discussed in the article.
Many adolescents involved in pregnancy, whose partners have concurrent relationships, are not aware of the concurrency. In this study in Sexually Transmitted Diseases, researchers surveyed nearly 300 pregnant adolescents and their partners and found that 60% of participants were not aware their partner had other partners. Concurrency is a major factor in STI rates; researchers point out the need to improve sexual communication in this population.
More than a third of births in the United States are the result of unintended pregnancy. This proportion has not declined since 1982. Women ages 20-34 account for 68% of these, teens, 22%, and women over 35, 9%. |
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by Emily Bridges, Director, Public Information Services
Here are some relevant studies from recent weeks.
- Satisfying the unmet need for contraception could save 100,000 lives each year. This special collection of family planning articles from the Lancet was released to coincide with the Family Planning Summit in London. For this article, researchers examined data from 172 countries to estimate how many maternal deaths had been averted by contraception (over 272,000). Then, working with the estimates of unmet contraceptive needs, they estimated how many lives might be saved by meeting the need for contraception (104,000). Complications from pregnancy, including childbirth and unsafe abortion, are the leading cause of death for young women ages 15-19 in low and middle income countries.
- The HPV vaccine may already be creating “herd immunity.” “Herd immunity” is a term that refers to when vaccination protects even those who are not vaccinated by reducing the number of people who are susceptible to a disease and breaking the chain of infection. The study found that between a group of young women ages 13-26 seen at a clinic in 2006, and a group seen in 2009 after the vaccine was widely available, rates of HPV had dropped by 50% even among those who had not received the vaccination. The participants in the study were low-income African American women living in an urban area; nationwide, urban African American young women experience high rates of STDs, which this vaccination may help lower.
- Health Affairs assesses PEPFAR. The most recent issue of the journal Health Affairs assesses the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. As activists work for an AIDS-free generation, the journal examines the successes and failures of the project and makes recommendations for “third wave” strategies. Earlier this year, Advocates for Youth assessed PEPFAR’s youth-focused policy and found that while promising components are visible, many policies are confusing or inadequate to address youth HIV prevention needs.
- Sexually abused boys are more likely to report risky sexual behaviors. Researchers examined existing studies on sexual abuse and risky sexual behavior and found that boys who have been sexually abused are more likely to report unprotected sex, multiple partners, and involvement in pregnancy in adolescence. Advocates recently published 2 papers on sexual abuse statistics, signs, and prevention: an Overview, and an in-depth look at Prevention and Resilience.
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by Emily Bridges, Director, Public Information Services
It seems like every week brings a new study about young people and sexual health. Below are some of the "headlines" - important statistics from major sources of data. And don't forget to explore our series of frequently updated guides to research on adolescent reproductive and sexual health issues at researchguides.advocatesforyouth.org.
As Of July 9, 2012
HIV
US
STIs
There are 19 million new infections every year; young people ages 15-24 account for “almost half.” CDC 2010 STD surveillance
Teen Pregnancy and Birth
2011 YRBS Data (Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance 2011)
- 47.4 percent of all high school students (grades 9-12) have ever had sex; 63 percent of high school seniors report ever having had sex.
- 33.7 percent of students are currently sexually active; 47.5% of seniors are currently sexually active
- 60.2 percent of sexually active students used a condom at last intercourse.
During 2006–2010, 57% of females aged 15–19 years had never had sex (defined as vaginal intercourse), an increase from 49% in 1995. Approximately 60% of sexually active teens reported using highly effective contraceptive methods, an increase from 47% in 1995. (CDC, Sexual Experience and Contraceptive Use Among Female Teens — United States, 1995, 2002, and 2006–2010)
By the age of 19, 70 percent of young people have had sex. (Guttmacher , “Facts on Amer. Teens Repro Health”)
In 2006–2010, about 43% of never-married female teenagers (4.4 million), and about 42% of never-married male teenagers (4.5 million) had had sexual intercourse at least once – a total of nearly 9 million teens who have already had sex. (NSFG Analysis, 2010)
95% of all people have sex before they are married. (Guttmacher: Trends in Premarital Sex in the United States, 1954–2003)
5.5% of young women ages 15-24, and 8.3% of young men ages 15-24, reported HIV sexual risk behaviors compared to 3.9% of women overall and 7.2% of men overall. (CDC: HIV risk Behaviors in the U.S.)
Bullying, Violence, and Harassment
48 % of students have been sexually harassed. (AAUW report, 2010)
32% of all students have been bullied at school; 11% physically bullied (Dept of Ed report, 2010)
85% of LGBT students have been bullied at school, 28% physically. (GLSEN Climate Report 2009)
8% of high school students have been forced to have intercourse; 9% have experienced dating violence. (Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance 2011)
With questions or comments, contact:
Emily Bridges, Director of Public Information Services, Advocates for Youth
202 419 3420
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. Explore our series of frequently updated guides to research on adolescent reproductive and sexual health issues at researchguides.advocatesforyouth.org |
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by Emily Bridges, Director, Public Information Services
Yesterday the District of Columbia Department of Health’s HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STDs, and TB released its annual report for 2011, which contained the city’s HIV statistics for 2010.
There was some good news: the prevalence of HIV, or percent of people who are living with the virus, dropped from 3.2 percent to 2.7 percent, a drop that may be accounted for by changes in data collection and population growth in the city. Prevalence among youth was lower than the overall prevalence rate – 0.1 percent for those ages 13-19, and 1.0 percent for those ages 20-29.
New diagnoses of HIV also fell by 24 percent between 2006 and 2010, while HIV-related deaths have decreased by 72 percent as many HIV patients are receiving treatment earlier.
The report, however, contained some disturbing news: the HIV prevalence among African American women in poorer neighborhoods has nearly doubled, from 6.3 percent in 2008 to 12.1 percent in 2010. Over 90 percent of HIV positive women in the District are Black.
Taking a closer look at the data for young people,
- Young people ages 13-29 made up about ¼ of all new HIV infections from 2006-2010.
- African Americans accounted for 92 percent of new infections among those ages 13-19 and 76 percent of new infections among those ages 20-29, for a total of 78 percent of infections among those ages 13-29. Hispanics accounted for seven percent of infections among those ages 13-29, and whites, 12 percent. By comparison, in 2010 African Americanss made up 51 percent of DC’s population, whites, 39 percent, and Hispanics, 9 percent.
The HIV epidemic among African Americans is affected by a number of factors, including poverty, lower access to health care, and institutionalized racism. (Learn more about disparities in the epidemic) African Americans are more at risk of infection even when they have equal or fewer risk behaviors. So while it is important to teach young people how to protect themselves from HIV, it’s as important or more to support structural interventions which seek to address or influence social, political and/or economic environments. |
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