1. HIV-AIDS PREVENTION AND LIFE PERSPECTIVES OF ADOLESCENTS AND YOUTH
21 APRIL 2006
LIMA – PERU
AIDSFOCUS

2. THE HEALTH SECTOR
Health budget: from ↑ 2000 to 2005, 90% of spending is to pay personnel, social obligations, and basic services
↓ in mortality rate, 21,6 deaths per 1’000 inhabitants ( ) to 6,2 between
Change in the epidemiological profile: ↓ mortality from transmitible disease, ↑from external causes and cancer.
In peru, 1st cause of mortality is acute respiratory infections (77x100,000 inhab.), followed by urinary diseases, and cerebro-vascular diseases

3. SOME DATA ON PERU 26´152,256 hab.(censo pob 2005), Lima 8´028,000.
30,7% of population is between ages ans. 21,5% are adolescents.
Poverty has decreased between 2001 and 2004 from 54,3% to 51,6% and extreme poverty from 24,1 to 19,2%.
In Lima, poverty has increased from 31,8 to 36,6% and extreme poverty from 2 to 3,4%.

4. HIV-AIDS IN PERU First case diagnosed in 1983.
18,059 cases of AIDS and 24,449 cases of HIV (5231 deaths)
Transmission: 97% sexual transmission, 1% blood transmission, 2% vertical transmission.
Lima and Callao account for 73% of declared cases.
Epidemic is concentrated: Men having sex with other men (MSM), sexual workers (SW) and persons deprived of their liberty.
Prevalence of IHV among MSM is 13,9%, with TS. It is of 0,49% for pregnant women (MINSA, vigilance sentinelle 2002).
A majority of people get infected between the ages of 16 and 24.
70% of those affected are between 20 and 39.
AIDS cases among youth and adolescents represent around 15%
Since 2004, arounf 6’000 people living with HIV/AIDS receive ART in Peru. It is estimated that around 9000 should be under treatment
There exists a multisectorial agency (state-civil society) that assumes leadership in the field of HIV and TB

5. Knowledge on HIV-AIDS *
High prop. of adolescents (90%) have heard about HIV-Aids and STDs
Large number of youth recognize using condom as form of protection/prevention, less so in abstinence
Myth of good hygiene as a form of protection persists. There is a biased information on the existence of a vaccine
Teens between report their main source of info on the disease as (1) professors (2) mother (3) father.
Information coming from professors is qulified by a high percentage of adolescents as insufficient
Fathers and health personnel are recognized as those who should be the main source of info on sexuality
*UPCH. Estudio Diagnostico en Adolescentes en el Perú. Lima, Huancayo e Iquitos. 20/04/2005

6. Sexual behaviour *
Among teens (15-19), 21% of girls ans 41% boys have had sexual relations. This figure drops to 4% and 6% for teens between 12 and 14
A factor that intervenes in delaying the first sexual experience is what school has taught the teens on sexuality
Most girls confide to having their first relation with their boyfriend. For boys this tends to vary quite a lot from one area to another. It can be with girlfriend, friend, a known person. Sex with men and with sex workers also appears (Iquitos).
For 34.7 % of girls and 32.2% of boys their first sexual relation was not planned. In Huancayo and Iquitos, 2-3% report that teir first relation was a rape
A large majority have not used condom in their first relation. Between 60%-70% use no protection at all.

7. Sexual behaviour in adolescence*
There is an important difference between the number of sexual partners in the lives of girls (1.7) and boys (4.1)
86% of women and 77% of men who had sexual relations in the last 3 months have not used a condom
Around 20% of boys and girls report having had sexual relations under the influence of alcohol.
4% of girls and 6% of boys report to having had sex under the influence of drugs (marihuana, PBC or extasy).
Girls report to having partners that are older

8. Use and access to condoms
68 to 79% of teens recognize condom as a way to avoid pregnancy, 69 to 81% as a means to prevent STDs ans 54 to 71% to prevent HIV.
Teenagers claim they know where to get condoms, the most frequent place being the pharmacy
Between 72 and 76% of adolescent girls say they have had sexual relations without ever using a condom. For boys this figure is around 20%
Girls will usually get condoms in the health center whereas boys will get them through friends or buy them
The main reason given to explain why they do not use the condom is first of all that it was unavailable, second that they use other types of protection or that thirdly, they do not like using it.
The main barrier to buying or obtaining condoms resides in the shame / uneasiness in buying or asking for them. Price does not seem to be a major barrier

9. Use and access to condoms
The fact that fathers talk about condoms with their sons seems to have an impact on their sexual behaviour thereafter.
Out of the youth who use condom machines, between 70-90% think that access to these machines should be improved
Around 20% of girls and 50-80% of boys would consider buying condoms from a machine