Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - Sunday, July 21, 2002
Ana Veciana-Suarez, aveciana@herald.com
As a friend of mine put it: "On the one hand, am I being realistic by demanding abstinence? On the other, if I talk about birth control, will they think I'm OK with them having sex?"
Yet, talk to the children we must, now more than ever. That was one of the sobering messages from the recent 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona. Delegates from around the world painted a grim picture of an epidemic that is proving stubborn to eradicate despite many advances.
About 40 million people worldwide are infected with AIDS or HIV, the virus that causes it. And the World Health Organization projects 45 million more people will be infected by decade's end. Women account for nearly two-thirds of new cases. Worse, it's hitting young people the hardest. Nearly one-third of all people living with the virus today are between 15 and 24 years of age.
I can assure you that no teenager I know, no teenager I love, truly understands that frightening figure -- and that's assuming it has nudged their conscience. Most young people are happily coasting through that invincible stage of life when tragedy has not paid them a random visit and the possibility of illness or death seems as remote as retirement. AIDS -- like drunk driving crashes -- is something that happens to other people.
Most learn about the disease in school, and some are lucky to get guidance from their parents. But if my unscientific survey is any indication, too many refuse to heed the call of safe sex. Neither abstinence nor use of condoms is as common as a parent would hope.
Consider this fact -- and please sit down to read it: By the end of the decade 21.5 million 15- to 24-year-olds worldwide will be living with the disease -- an incredible 70 percent jump over today's rates. That's because young people are increasingly engaging in risky behavior -- not taking precautions, not getting tested and, in some cases among young gay men, trying to become infected on purpose. This is especially true in our area. Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach had the dubious distinction of coming in first, third and fourth among U.S. cities in the rate of new AIDS cases, per 100,000 people, in 2000.
While HIV/AIDS doesn't necessarily have to be the immediate death sentence it once was, the disease still cannot be cured by existing therapies. It continues to be deadly. The alternative, living with it, can turn torturous. But do our children know that?
The threat of this scourge is such that MTV, along with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Family Health International, has launched a multimedia worldwide campaign to educate young people.
Just the other week, former President Bill Clinton taped a special in Barcelona with two dozen youths to talk about HIV/AIDS. It was shown to millions of viewers last Sunday on MTV and will be broadcast worldwide.
While media attention is good, there is absolutely no replacement for parental involvement -- frank talk about sex, condoms and morals. We need to let our children know that unprotected intercourse at any age is dangerous. We need to give them facts and figures, instill in them values and respect again and again. Then some more.
It's not the easiest conversation you'll have with your kid, but it might be the most important one.
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