We have completed our latest round of "What
if it Were You?"
Watch for the continuation of our youth
HIV/AIDS poster
contest...
THANK YOU to Edgewood High School in Madison, Wisconsin, for their amazing
posters!
The contest you
have developed provides an excellent opportunity to engage
youth in
the community in a sensitive but important topic. It creates opportunities for
educators to speak
to youth about HIV/AIDS, helping to increase awareness and develop
understanding. In a conservative suburban county like ours there are many
challenges in reaching out to
teens on any issues related to sex and sexual
health. This contest is a positive approach to dealing with the challenges &
overcoming barriers. It appears you have had much success with your contest so
far & we hope to emulate that, hopefully holding an
annual contest
of our own. The detail involved in your website & the artwork produced by the
students is both extremely impressive. Your ability to elicit so much response &
support from your community & several local businesses is truly inspirational.
Thank you again for your support.
India Willis
Health Educator
DuPage County Health Department
Wheaton, IL
Feel free to copy and paste the below
code to place our banner on your MySpace, Blog, website etc. We
sincerely appreciate your friendship and support!
In 2009, 122 new cases of HIV infection have
been reported in Wisconsin since January
10,445 cases of HIV infection have been reported
in Wisconsin since 1983
Approximately 6,700 people are presumed living
with HIV/AIDS in Wisconsin today
22% of new HIV
cases were among young people ages 15-24
20% of new HIV
cases were among women
Race/ethnic
minorities comprise only 12% of the Wisconsin
population, but 54% of all HIV cases reported in
2008 were members of racial/ethnic minorities
In 2008, 68%
of all new HIV cases were among gay men
Experts estimate that 1 in 4 individuals living
with HIV are unaware of their status
HIV is a disease that affects people regardless
of age, gender, race, socioeconomic status and
sexual orientation
HIV infections have been reported in all 72
counties in Wisconsin, with concentration in
Milwaukee County
Nearly 40% of
HIV patients have no health care coverage
Over 50% of
HIV patients cannot afford their HIV medications
Some facts on
Youth
HIV/AIDS from Centers for Disease Control (CDC):
AIDS in 2004
An estimated 2,174 young
people received a diagnosis of AIDS (5.1% of the estimated total
of 42,514 AIDS diagnoses), and 232 young people with AIDS died.
An estimated 7,761 young
people were
living with AIDS, a 42%
increase since 2000, when 5,457 young people were living with
AIDS.
African Americans were
disproportionately affected by HIV infection, accounting for 55%
of all
HIV infections reported among
persons aged 13–24
Sexual Risk Factors
Early age at sexual initiation.
According to CDC’s Youth Risk Behavioral Survey (YRBS), many young
people begin having sexual intercourse at early ages: 47% of
high school students have had
sexual intercourse, and 7.4% of them reported first sexual
intercourse before age 13.
HIV/AIDS
education needs to take place at correspondingly young
ages, before young people engage in sexual behaviors that put them
at risk for HIV infection.
