ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH

Senate Misses Golden Opportunity to Save Adolescents' Lives

Advocates for Youth Urges Policy Makers to Support Global AIDS

WASHINGTON, DC (June 7, 2002) Early this morning the Senate approved an FY 2002 supplemental spending bill, allocating $200 million for international AIDS programs.  An amendment offered by Senators Bill Frist (R-TN) and Jesse Helms (R-NC) doubled the original funding request from $100 to $200 million.  The $100 million increase approved by the Senate limits the use of these funds to the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission.

"By prohibiting the use of these funds for prevention efforts beyond mother-to-child transmission, the Senate ignores the one billion young people, ages 10 to 24, whose lives also hang in the balance in the face of this deadly pandemic," said James Wagoner, President of Advocates for Youth. "For these youth, the Senate vote is a bitter disappointment."

Of the five million people newly infected with HIV in 2001, 60 percent were under the age of 25.  Sixteen percent were under the age of 15, while 42 percent were between the ages of 15 and 24.  Each and every day, 7,000 young people around the globe contract the deadly disease. And in at least eight of the hardest hit countries, projections suggest that, without additional help, 35 percent of all boys now age 15 will die of AIDS.

"The lives of one billion young people around the world are on the line.  The United States has both a moral obligation and a strategic interest in taking a leadership role in this fight against HIV/AIDS.  The U.S. can no longer ignore the impact of this disease on the world's youth. A generation of engineers, teachers, farmers, and physicians is at risk.  Last night, Senate members had a chance to step up to the plate and show leadership on this issue.  Regrettably they did not," concluded Wagoner.

Advocates for Youth is an international, nonprofit organization that creates programs and supports policies that help young people make safe, responsible decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.

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Note to Editors and Producers: For more information or to set up an interview with international adolescent sexuality experts, please contact Bill Barker at (202) 419-3420.

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