Alarmed at the threat HIV posed to America's young people, the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) issued a wake-up call to the nation in a 1996 report, Youth and HIV/AIDS: An American Agenda. Americans under age 25 were becoming infected with HIV at the rate of two per hour, and the report named them a "generation at risk." Today, we report again on the status of the epidemic among young people, acknowledging progress made and calling for a reinvigorated national response to the problem.

The past four years have brought major advances and many young people have benefited from this success. New medical treatments have dramatically reduced AIDS death rates. We have also learned important lessons about preventing risk behavior and about providing youth-friendly services to the young people who are already HIV-infected. We now have strategies for bringing young people into scientific studies and for getting science out to practitioners who can put it to work for young people.

This good news is a return on our national investment in AIDS, but the good news is only part of the story. It is deeply distressing that the number of young people becoming infected has remained constant year after year and that most HIV-infected American youth are not receiving adequate medical care. Hard work and commitment have produced many of the tools we need for a successful campaign against HIV and AIDS in young people. While this innovation continues, we must move from paper to practice by putting what we already know to work for all young Americans. The time to act is now.

With the release of this report: Youth and HIV/AIDS 2000: A New American Agenda, we urge government at all levels, the private sector, parents, schools, community based organizations, religious institutions, concerned individuals and young people themselves to join forces in a renewed commitment to fighting HIV and AIDS in our nation's youth. Young people are our most valuable resource -- our best hope for the future. The lessons we learn along the way will serve the entire global community.

Sandra L. Thurman Presidential Envoy for AIDS Cooperation and Director, Office of National AIDS Policy