THE AIDS GENERATION

We the youth of today fall in a generation that has largely been shaken by Aids. Most of us have not had an experience of an Aids free world.

Suffice to say, we are the main players that should be in the forefront of mitigating the impact of HIV and Aids. The policy makers ought to realise that the efforts in practice against this disease are a minus if the youth are not included.

As the case in Malawi, the HIV/AIDS epidemic among youth remains largely invisible to adults and to young people themselves.

Programs need to reach out to street children, sex workers, students and other vulnerable youth, including those orphaned by AIDS. Most programs for youth work better when young people help plan and run them. Programs must also find more effective ways to reach parents and other adults who can influence young people's lives.

Stopping HIV and AIDS requires comprehensive strategies that focus on youth. We must not overlook the fact that the youth are particularly prone to HIV due to a number of psychological, physical and social attributes.

Fellow youngsters, it is high time we do away with risky behaviours. Aids is a social crisis as well as a problem of individual behaviour, therefore, if we do not take it on ourselves then this generation is bound to be wiped out. A lot of information has been rolled out on HIV and Aids but may be, Malawi must realise that education and communication programs must go beyond merely offering information to fostering risk-avoidance skills as well, such as delay of sexual debut, abstinence, and negotiation with sex partners.

HIV and AIDS education should begin early, even before children become sexually active because this generation of ours is dancing highly to thetune of sex marketing through magazines, internet, television, music etc.

Let’s act now, this can be a generation of heroes only if we get HIV and AIDS to zero.