Makati City, 9 November 2004 --- The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will begin assisting an HIV/AIDS prevention programme for children and young people in the Philippines with a budget of US$ 3 million from 2005 to 2009, UNICEF announced recently at the press launch for the MTV Staying Alive: Music Summit for HIV/AIDS.

“Many young people in the Philippines engage in risky behaviours and have misconceptions about HIV/AIDS, putting them in peril of this deadly, incurable disease,” Dr. Nicholas Alipui, UNICEF Country Representative said.

Around the world, young people are increasingly affected and devastated by HIV/AIDS, UNICEF says.

Young people in the Philippines also at risk
A study by the University of the Philippines Population Institute showed that in a study group of almost 20,000 young people 15 to 24 years old, 23 per cent have had premarital sex. Among respondents who ever had premarital sex, 35 per cent have had more than one premarital sex partner, 38 per cent used condoms during their last premarital sex, and 10 per cent have paid for sex.
The study also found that young people engage in other high-risk behaviours, such as drinking alcoholic beverages (70 per cent of respondents) and using prohibited drugs (11 per cent of respondents) at least once.
The study further showed that young people are alarmingly lacking in correct information about HIV/AIDS: only 19 per cent of the study group could identify correct ways of preventing the sexual transmission of HIV; 28 per cent think that AIDS is curable; and 73 per cent believe they had no chance of contracting HIV.

UNICEF response
The UNICEF-assisted HIV/AIDS prevention programme under the Sixth Country Programme for Children (CPC 6) will benefit children and young people in selected cities, urbanised municipalities.

Working with government agencies, NGOs, and private sector, UNICEF aims to prevent HIV infection among young people (aged 10-24 years); prevent parent-to-child transmission of HIV; provide care for children and parents living with HIV; and, ensure protection, care and support for orphans and for children in families made vulnerable by HIV.
“It is a moral imperative for UNICEF to ensure that children living with HIV/AIDS receive appropriate treatment and care,” Alipui said. UNICEF is working with the Department of Health and World Health Organisation to import limited quantities of pediatric drugs to treat children with HIV/AIDS.
Alipui added, “We will be working with government to ensure that pediatric treatment for children becomes a central feature of the Global Funds to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.”
Other key activities for young people include life skills training and educational activities to facilitate positive behaviour changes.

Reaching young people through music, entertainment
UNICEF is one of several United Nations agencies supporting the MTV Staying Alive: Music Summit for HIV/AIDS on December 1. The concert is a far-reaching way of promoting more open sharing of life-saving information among youth.

An estimated 60,000 to 100,000 people attended last year’s MTV Music Summit headlined by Mandy Moore. Along with 25 Filipino artists and bands, Moore acted as a spokesperson for HIV/AIDS awareness. Three weeks immediately following the concert, the two leading teen hotline centers reported receiving more than a thousand calls from people who apparently learned of the hotline numbers from watching the concert.

“Pop music is one of the most effective means of reaching young people,” Alipui said, “and UNICEF will harness this and other means so that young people will be able to make healthy choices.”