Director and Country Representative, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Joseph Ngu has said that 3.1 million Nigerians currently live with the HIV virus.
He also said that of this, 67 percent Nigerian youth account for the prevalence of the virus, with the highest rates among young people in the age groups 25-29, 30-34 at 4.9 percent, 20-24 at 4.6 percent and 15-19 at 3.3percent respectively.
Ngu stated this at the opening of the two days UNESCO Workshop Meeting with the theme: “Strengthening Youth and Youth led NGO’s Involvement with Family Life and HIV Education in Nigeria, Using Culturally Appropriate Strategies” which started in Abuja, yesterday.
He said, “Today’s generation of young people is the largest in history, over 3 billion people , nearly half of the world’s population are under the age of 25, almost 90% of all young people live in developing countries”
He added that even though the young people are valuable to their countries and investing in them brings tremendous social and economic benefits, the youths also faced challenges including violence and crime, unemployment and HIV/AIDs that undermine their rights and creates significant social and economic cost to the society”