(Note: Main points only slightly edited. Direct speech given in quotes. pd)

11 HIV Infected Every Minute

Half of those infected with AIDS in 1998 are younger than 25 years old.

The aids virus infects eleven new victims every 60 seconds. Half of the 5.8
million persons infected, according to the latest report from the UN AIDS
Program, are between the ages of 15 and 24. The organisation will address
the growing problem on Tuesday, designated 'World AIDS Day' 1998.

"The problem is spreading like a bush-fire amongst the drug dependent youth
of eastern Europe," says Bernhard Schwartlaender, UN AIDS Epidemiologist in
Genf. Hardest hit is the Ukraine where the number of infected rose by 500
in the past year to 36,500.

In Africa and Asia the disease is spread primarily through unprotected sex.
"The latest reports show young women in these countries to be more at risk
than their male counterparts. In Kenya, for instance, 22% of the 15-19 year
olds test positive for the virus. Only 4% of the males of like age are
affected," said Schwartlaender.

Young African women seeking escape from desperate economic circumstances
often enter into risky relationships. The risk is much greater in rape
cases when the woman is often injured. That this is the case is to be
concluded from the UN AIDS report which confirms that one in every four
young Kenyan women report that their first sexual experience was the result
of rape.

In the light of such a report, UNICEF is asking for more money to be made
available for AIDS education in the developing countries. At present only
14% of the 2.6 million dollars which goes towards AIDS education is spent
in third world countries.

The success of AIDS education programs is seen in the West and in the USA
where the number of new infections, if not dropping, is at least stabilised
around 75,000 per year. "In Germany, 68$ of young women and 55$ of young
men use condoms "the first time," said Elisabeth Pott, Director of the
Central Federal Office of Health Education.

Condom sales have gone up from 85 M in 1985 to 195 M in 1997.

600 to 700 young people infected with HIV live in Germany. Their conduct,
according to Tom Boehlers of the Children's Clinic in Ulm, gives rise to
particular problems. As an expression of rebellion, many fail to take their
medication regularly. This can engender a new drug resistant strain of
virus: at that point little can be done to help them.

Tina Baier

Checked-by: Pat Dolan