A
study that was conducted in 2012 by UNICEF indicates that HIV prevalence rate among
Malawian adolescents is 5% higher than that of adults. This is very shocking and this rationalizes the
need to intensify our efforts towards reducing the rate at which young people
are contracting the virus.
Discussing
this issue with some young people, they seemed to be ignorant of the underlying
factors that contribute to this shocking revelation. The question that needs to
be answered is; why the youth? This issue is indeed astonishing and it is food
for thought, not to the youths alone but to everyone in the country. However,
the youth themselves also need to be proactive in ensuring that duty bearers
are respecting their Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRH&R). The
youth also need to seek the available resources to prevent HIV infection.
Among
other things, Malawian young people surely need two important things; information
and services. Firstly, it is the role of the government and other institutions
like NGOs that are working in the area of youth development and SRH to ensure
that adolescents have all the necessary information about HIV/AIDS. Behaviour
change occurs when the targeted groups of people have information and they act
upon it. Secondly, provision of sexual
and reproductive health services should also be an integral part of the
strategy. This is where the availability of Youth Friendly Health Services in our
health facilities should be felt.
Young
people are the pillars of our nation, let us all save adolescent young people
by making sure that all that needs to be done in order to deter the spread of
HIV among the youth is done.
