President Obama: Use Momentum to Generate Change for Young People on HIV and AIDS
02/12/2009
Caitlin Chandler of aids2031 says young people want a voice in global AIDS issues
Throughout President Barack Obama's election campaign and the subsequent months since his victory, everyone from cable news pundits to your average Joe has been fawning over the country's new political powerhouses: young people.
Media coverage has been devoted to the role of young people in the campaign, youth voter turn-out, and all those snazzy online social networking devices the Obama folks used to mobilize young people.
Despite this success, we know little about how the new administration will fare on youth issues at home and abroad. Young people sometimes get left out of policy and programs because youth is a broad category between "child" and "adult," with different definitions depending on where you live. Yet young people (defined here as 15 to 24) often have different needs from older age groups when it comes to issues like staying healthy, because they don't have access to the same financial and political resources as adults. Young people are also not a homogeneous group - they have different needs depending on their economic status, location, and so on.
The Obama campaign deserves credit for giving young people the power to be leaders within the campaign, and recognizing youth as a powerful constituency capable of aiding or leading social transformation. Now that Obama is in office, he should give young people the same opportunities within his administration, building on his campaign's momentum to become a leader on youth issues.
One pivotal area that needs U.S. leadership for young people is the global AIDS response. UNAIDS estimates 45 percent of all new HIV infections occur in people under the age of 25, and 5.4 million young people are living with HIV. President Obama should prioritize young people in his AIDS efforts in the following ways:
1. Reform the President's Emergency Plan to Fight AIDS Relief - Move swiftly to ensure the new Global AIDS Coordinator changes the President's Emergency Plan to Fight AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to meet the needs of young people in countries where PEPFAR operates. Advocates for Youth's 2007 report, Improving US Global AIDS Policy for Young People, lays out several key changes to PEPFAR, including supporting HIV prevention programs that are evidence-based and investing in better sexual and reproductive health programs for HIV positive young people.
2. Advocate for most-affected young people - The Obama administration should instruct the new Global AIDS Coordinator and USAID to take global leadership on behalf of young people most-at-risk for HIV - young people who use drugs, are sex workers, or are men who have sex with men. This means speaking out against laws that criminalize same sex intercourse and speaking up in support of young people having access to clean-needle exchange programs and methadone therapy.
3. Take action on stigma and discrimination - The success of a long-term AIDS response for young people depends upon communities successfully eradicating multiple forms of stigma and discrimination that surround HIV because of its relation to sexuality, gender, drugs and issues many people would rather not talk about. It also means supporting innovative research and campaigns to fight social stigma and discrimination. Laws that ban people under the age of 18 from accessing sexual health services or HIV testing without parental consent are a form of discrimination and should be abolished.
4. Make change at home - Young people in the U.S. need the same things young people abroad do when it comes to HIV prevention, including sexuality education, harm reduction programs, and access to condoms and youth-friendly health services. And just like abroad, not all young people are equally at risk. According to the Black AIDS Institute, black teenagers account for 70 percent of new HIV diagnoses. HIV prevention programs must address racial disparities that contribute to young people of color being more vulnerable to HIV than their peers.
5. Create a Youth AIDS Taskforce - The same online networks that Obama utilized to get young people involved in his campaign exist to connect people working on AIDS. Obama and the Global AIDS Coordinator should create a Youth AIDS Taskforce to advise them on global and domestic youth AIDS policy that utilizes youth-led networks to keep the new administration's ears tuned to the voices of young people. On the Taskforce should be people of all ages with expertise in youth AIDS issues, including young people living with HIV.
President Obama's willingness to work with and engage young people in his campaign was noteworthy. But if his administration can now work in partnership with young people to change the course of the HIV pandemic, that's something we will talk about far into the future.
Caitlin L. Chandler is an Advocacy and Outreach Officer at aids2031, focusing on youth AIDS issues. Previously, she worked at the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS. She can be reached at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Wow, what a great article. You really bring all the issues together very well into those five focus areas. Hopefully, we can take these steps to reduce the burden of HIV and AIDS on the world’s youth.
— AnnaSara Carnahan on 2009-02-19
I am so glad hearing that GHC has published news letters and will be happy recieving some .
Divine
— Ntiokam Divine on 2009-02-19
Hi Caitlin great and very glad reading through a very successfully article and SGAC will equally like to contribute from Cameroon.
Thanks
— Ntiokam Divine on 2009-02-19
Thanks for bringing light on this subject.
However, I wanted to shed light on another disproportionally affected group: young women, especially those of color. One aspect that is more unique with this group is that they frequently do not have the traditional risk factors that we assume are part of the risk profile for HIV transmission. Rather, it is socioeconomic community factors such as poverty and incarceration rates, that play larger roles in their risk. For example, in our adolescent clinic, half the patients with HIV are female. All were either infected perinatally or through heterosexual sex, and often having sexual histories that are within the average for American youth. Your call to action for having comprehensive sex education and health services is necessary especially for this group.
— Manel Silva on 2009-02-19
An article of truth for CHANGE! The voice of the youth must be heard.
— PAUL EZENWA on 2009-02-19
Catlin’s article is very correct. It is very important that PEPFAR look very close at the policies which effect all countries, especially the developing countries. There should be policies to monitor the donors as well as sustainability to country programmes.
— Chulani de Zoysa on 2009-02-23
This has strike my mind. There has been, especially in Africa, over the change of administration thinking the Aid to reduce HIV/AIDS burden on africa will come to a halt. But as nice as it’s sounding, there is so much hope instilled. We remain Humbled to mother America.
Thanks
Chiyangi Christopher.
— Chiyangi Christopher on 2009-03-05
Great for this article .I agree to her suggestion that the question we may need to ask ourselves is “how are we going to do it so that message has reached who is responsible and action is made.”
— Jabez Kanyanda on 2009-06-09
I am very happy to hear these ideas on the fight against HIV & AIDs. But will like you to send more information on any coming conference to impact Youth in my country Liberia.
I am working with the Head organization of people living with HIV & AIDs (LIGHT ASSOCIATION). I hold the position as an Administrative Secretary. And a youth of the age 27 years.
In this light, I love you send these information so it can enable us get ideas on the fight of Stigma and Discrimation in my country.
Thanks.
— Geago P. Junius on 2009-08-18