UNICEF Highlights Ignorance About HIV/AIDS Among Young Indonesians

An alarming number of young Indonesians are ignorant about HIV/AIDS and related issues, a UNICEF representative said Monday. "We have decided to make combating HIV/AIDS, in particular youth awareness, one of our main priorities," said UNICEF country representative Steven Allen in a statement before a scheduled ministerial consultation on children organized by the UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Office. Allen went on to say that a 2001 UNICEF survey of more than 1,000 Indonesian children and young people showed that 84 percent "knew only a little or nothing about HIV/AIDS." The same survey revealed that 73 percent of those ages 14-17 did not know what a condom was, compared to 40 percent in the rest of the region, and that 12 percent of those interviewed had experimented with drugs. The UNICEF conference, to be held May 5-7 in Bali, will also address maternal and neonatal mortality, commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of children, and malnutrition.

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