Today, around the world, there are 5 million young men and women living with HIV. Opportunity in Crisis: Preventing HIV from early adolescence to young adulthood examines the state of the HIV epidemic among young people, highlighting the challenges they face and presenting solutions informed by evidence of what works with different age groups and in different epidemic settings. The report outlines key steps towards building a continuum of HIV prevention that can help keep children HIV-free as they develop into young adults.

There hasn't been a resource to inform readers about the HIV risk confronting our adolescent population--until now! In Adolescents and AIDS, leading researchers in health, medicine, sociology, and psychology describe the risks to this vulnerable population. Divided into three parts (epidemiology, prevention/risk reduction, and policy), this comprehensive book addresses not only adolescents in general, but includes specific chapters on high-risk populations such as minority, incarcerated and homeless youth. The authors explore the data and theoretical underpinnings necessary for designing and implementing effective risk-reduction and prevention programs by approaching the AIDS epidemic as a social and developmental crisis that adolescents are ill-prepared to address. While proposing appropriate theoretical models for behavior change, the book also evaluates the effectiveness of various intervention strategies ranging from school-based programs to mass-media approaches and offers public policy recommendations for intervening for this population. Health professionals, researchers, policy analysts, clinicians, counselors, and students will find this timely text a valuable resource.

On cover and title page: United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS

This cross-sectional study used a purposive sample of 379 high school students from fifteen urban and rural high schools in Guyana and assessed their HIV and AIDS knowledge and stigma-related attitudes, and the relationships among gender, age, religion, and race/ethnicity and HIV and AIDS knowledge. Most of the high school students displayed an overall moderate level of HIV and AIDS knowledge. The students understood the modes of HIV transmission; they recognized the symptoms of HIV and AIDS; nearly half of them believed that a blood donor was at risk of contracting HIV; and about one-fifth of the students embraced myths and misconceptions surrounding HIV and AIDS. There was no statistically significant difference in the knowledge scores of male and female students. Knowledge scores, nevertheless, differed significantly between the 13 to 15 and 16 to 18 age groups, and among the religious and ethnic groups. Stigma-related attitude scores did not differ significantly for gender and age, but differed significantly for religion and ethnicity among students. The study showed fissures in HIV/AIDS knowledge and substantial stigma-related attitudes. Limited understanding of the myths and misconceptions of HIV and AIDS demands a new focus on how HIV is not transmitted through moving beyond conventional strategies toward a social constructivist approach. This book is essential reading for medical professionals, policymakers and educators throughout the Caribbean region.