Awareness of the dangers of HIV/Aids is decreasing among young people at a time when fewer are practicising safe sex, a survey has revealed.
Nearly 60% of 16- to 24-year-olds questioned thought they were not at risk of contracting the infection after having unprotected sex and 8% believed taking a contraceptive pill offered protection against infection.
Almost 14% thought the fact that they were not gay ensured they could not contract HIV/Aids while another 13% said they were either too young to be affected or felt "perfectly healthy".
The newly released results have emereged from a survey commissioned in spring of 2,550 young people on behalf of the Staying Alive Foundation charity, which is supported by MTV UK and the Body Shop. The most notable finding, that 75% of 16- to 24-year-olds are not using condoms, has already been published.
These latest figures show that on average young people admit to having had an average of 6.81 sexual partners, and to having had unprotected sex with an average of 3.44 partners.
More than 35%, however, said they had been tested for HIV. Of those who had not, 16% said they did not know where to go to get tested, five per cent were too scared of the outcome and seven per cent were too embarrassed.
Broken down by region, youngsters in Leeds appear to be the most reckless – the number having unprotected sex there is 86%. In Manchester, around 70% think they have "no chance" of contracting the virus.
More than 35% of those questioned could not recall ever having seen an advertising campaign about HIV/Aids. The findings echo concerns among medical charities that many young people are unaware of the dangers.
The Department of Health last year estimated that 73,000 are living with HIV in the UK, one third of whom did not know they were infected. Knowledge about safe sex practices also appears to be declining. In 2007, 79% of people said they knew HIV could be passed on by sex between a man and woman without a condom; in 2000, the figure was 12%higher.
Georgia Arnold, the official in charge of social responsibility at MTV, said: "Young people do not remember the government campaigns of the 1980s and generally aren't responding to the current safe sex campaigns. Without that awareness young people are lulled into a false sense of security – they think the risks have gone away when in fact they are as real as ever."
She was disappointed that two £8,000 grants for work on HIV/Aids awareness offered by the organisation's charitable Staying Alive Foundation had not been claimed in the UK this year. The lack of applications, she feared, reflected lower awareness of the dangers and a mistaken belief that the disease is cureable.Other results from the survey show that more men – nearly a quarter – think women run the most risk of contracting HIV/Aids. Only 10% of women think the same.
