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SOMALIA: UNICEF calls for stronger youth assistance on HIV/AIDS

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

JOHANNESBURG, 5 December (PLUSNEWS) - Somali leaders have a responsibility to provide correct information on HIV/AIDS prevention and a healthy lifestyle to the country's young people, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has said.

While the HIV/AIDS prevalence in Somalia remains relatively low, research showed that the youth were still the prime target of the pandemic.

UNAIDS estimates that one percent of all Somali adults aged between 15 and 49 are living with HIV/AIDS.

In a recent interview with the Agence France Presse news agency, the UNICEF representative in Somalia, Jasper Morch, said: "Leaders must rise to this huge challenge and mobilise the youth - not to fight political battles, but to spearhead the fight for their own, and Somalia's, survival against HIV/AIDS."

[ENDS]

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