AFN Says Native Youth Need AIDS Education Earlier

AFN Says Native Youth Need AIDS Education Earlier

Thursday, December 01, 2005 at 15:26

This is World AIDS Day and Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Day, and Assembly of First Nations national chief Phil Fontaine is using the occasion to highlight the impact of the problem in the First Nations population.

Fontaine says more HIV/AIDS education, awareness and prevention programs are urgently needed to combat the growing number of First Nations’ youth being infected with the virus.

The AFN says unprotected sex and the use of contaminated needles during drug injection are two of the primary causes of infection for First Nations youth.

Fontaine says the latest stats show that 22 per cent of all new HIV cases were among the Aboriginal population.

Health Canada says Aboriginal youth are infected at a younger age, on average, than the Canadian population.

Fontaine says it is imperative that Native children and youth are instructed from an early age about the disease, and about the behaviours that will put them at risk.