This webpage from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) includes links to resources, images for social media, posters, and palm cards that can be used to educate the public about the impact of HIV on youth.
Together We Can End Youth HIV
Every youth-serving provider has a role to play in preventing youth HIV and helping young people living with HIV lead healthy lives.
National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day (NYHAAD) is observed every year on April 10th. Planned and directed by Advocates for Youth, NYHAAD is a day to educate the public about the impact of HIV and AIDS on young people, speak out against the stigma around HIV and AIDS, and support young people who are living with HIV.
What Works in Youth HIV provides practical information and youth-friendly resources for people working with adolescents to prevent HIV nationwide. Explore the resources below to find information and tools you can use in your community—to talk about HIV today or every day. Together we can end HIV.
State of the Youth HIV Epidemic
Young people ages 13-24 in the United States (U.S.) have never known a world without HIV; one in five HIV infections occur in individuals between these ages. If current rates of HIV diagnoses continue, 1 in 2 black men who have sex with men (MSM) and 1 in 4 Latino MSM in the U.S. will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime. Despite the fact that HIV has always being a part of their lives, youth today may not be aware of the most up-to-date facts on how HIV affects them and their peers.
The resources below will be helpful when talking to youth about the HIV epidemic in the U.S.
Educate Youth About Sexual Health & HIV
Educators can use this 50-minute lesson plan from Advocates for Youth to teach youth what sexual abstinence is and how it can prevent unplanned pregnancies, STIs, and HIV infections.
This program from Physicians for Reproductive Health contains 20 modules. While originally designed for physicians it can be used by any youth-serving provider to learn about adolescent reproductive and sexual health care.
Speak Out Against Stigma
Addressing stigma and discrimination is essential in our work to end the HIV epidemic. Both HIV-positive and HIV-negative adolescents may experience multiple intertwining layers of stigma related to aspects of their identities and social groups as well as their HIV status. For example, young men who have sex with men; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth; and racial/ethnic minorities face stigma, regardless of their HIV status.
The following resources will provide information about LGBTQ youth and ways to address stigma when working with them.
This toolkit from NASTAD includes descriptions of stigma and recommendations on how to reduce it among Black and Latino gay men.
Support Youth Living with HIV
For youth that test positive for HIV, it is important to connect them to a youth-friendly HIV health care provider who can offer treatment and prevention counseling. This will help them stay as healthy as possible and prevent passing HIV on to others. Because there is no cure for HIV at this time, treatment is a lifelong process. To stay healthy, youth living with HIV need to receive regular HIV medical care, with the goal of maintaining viral suppression.
The following resources provide information and tools to support youth living with HIV.
This Advocates for Youth publication provides research-based information on youth-friendly clinical services. It also provides an overview of medical and public health literature highlighting key components of youth-friendly clinical services.