UN calls for urgent action to protect young women from HIV/Aids in Africa
The Guardian - Urgent action is needed to help and protect girls and young women from Aids in sub-Saharan Africa, thousands of whom are still being infected with HIV every week, the UN says. In 2015, 7,500 girls and young women aged 15 to 24 were infected with HIV every week.
More than 90% of the adolescents infected in sub-Saharan Africa are girls. Between 2010 and 2015, the total annual number of new infections among 15- to 24-year-old women fell just 6%, from 420,000 to 390,000.
The UN target to reduce that number to fewer than 100,000 a year by 2020 is way off track, says the latest report from UNAIDS. Too little has been done to help girls protect themselves and stay well, according to Michel Sidibé, the executive director of UNAIDS. (Photo: SRC Eritrea)