Friends source of info on HIV

Star: LANGKAWI: Friends are the ones most young Malaysians get their information on HIV from, according to one of the two surveys funded by United Nations Population Fund.
More than 60% of the respondents said friends were their main source of information relating to HIV. Teachers and lecturers came a close second at 59%.
As for information on other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), 48% got their information from teachers and lecturers while 44% said friends were their main source.
This was the findings of one of the surveys under a project named Protecting Young Malaysians from HIV and STIs. This survey, conducted last year, had 347 respondents.
The other survey found that the majority of young people have heard of HIV, but many have misconceptions.
About half of the 6,564 respondents in this survey thought that an HIV infected person could be visually identified, the infection could be cured, and HIV could be transmitted through mosquito bites, sharing of cups and living together.
The results of the surveys were revealed at the two-day National Advocacy Seminar for the Media organised by the Federation of Family Planning Associations Malaysia (FFPAM) here, which ended on Saturday.
These surveys are part of the FFPAM's project which kicked off in October 2004 and will be concluded next year.
The reports on the surveys said the results highlighted the need for young people to be given knowledge so they could educate their peers on HIV and STIs.
FFPAM chairman Dr Kamaruzaman Ali said they used the “youth to youth” approach to ensure the message was accurate and appropriate.
Since early this year, 420 “peer educators” had been roped in to disseminate information through projects to combat misconceptions and to drive home the right message.
Loh Tze Lin, 15, from SMJK Notre Dame, Malacca, who was at the seminar, said that as a peer educator, she gave talks to her schoolmates, put up information, set up a “HIV corner” in her school and carried out surveys.
She even pasted a condom on the AIDS information board in school so that her schoolmates knew what it looked like. “My friends are now more open about HIV and AIDS,” she said.
United Nations Development Programme representative Dr Richard Leete said the project involved 80 adult volunteers and also peer educators in secondary schools, colleges, a factory and a drug rehabilitation centre.
The project is being carried out through the family planning associations of Kedah, Penang, Kelantan and Malacca.