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Educate girls; fight HIV/AIDS
Global Coalition on Women and AIDS (GCWA)
What's Real: Issue No. 1
October 2007

http://womenandaids.unaids.org/publications.html

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Without education, AIDS will continue its rampant spread. With AIDS out of control, education will be out of reach.
- Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS

If every child received a complete primary education, at least 7 million new cases of HIV could be prevented in a decade.

Growing evidence shows that getting and keeping young people in school, particularly girls, dramatically lowers their vulnerability to HIV. By itself, merely attending primary school makes young people significantly less likely to contract HIV. When young people stay in school through the secondary level, education's protective effect against HIV is even more pronounced. This is especially true for girls who, with each additional year of education, gain greater independence, are better equipped to make decisions affecting their sexual lives, and have higher income earning potential - all of which help them stay safe from HIV.

Higher education levels are also clearly correlated with delayed sexual debut, greater HIV awareness and knowledge about HIV testing sites, fewer sexual partners, higher rates of condom use, and greater communication about HIV prevention between partners - all factors that substantially lower HIV risk. By providing young women with greater economic options and autonomy, education also affords them the knowledge, skills, and opportunities they need to make informed choices about how to delay marriage and childbearing; have healthier babies; avoid commercial sex and other risky behaviours; and gain awareness of their rights.

In sub-Saharan African and the Caribbean, young women account for 3 out of 4 of all 15-24 year olds living with HIV, and the number of young women living with HIV is rising in every region of the world. Despite some recent increases in overall school enrollment rates, and some encouraging progress toward gender parity in education in southern and eastern Africa, gender disparities in education enrollment, retention, and completion remain high in many countries hardest hit by AIDS, mostly notably in South Asia and West Africa.

That's why the UNAIDS-led Global Coalition on Women and AIDS has made education for girls a top priority. Given the importance of education as an HIV prevention strategy and the many barriers that young people, especially girls, face in getting and staying in school, this must become a true global priority.

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