Facts about young people , drug use and HIV
o There are an estimated 13.2 million people who inject drugs in more than 155 countries , many of them young people . o The World Health Organisation conducted a study with over 6,000 young people who inject drugs . Between 72 % and 96 % of participants reported that they began injecting before they were 25 years old . o A UNAIDS study revealed that in countries like Russia and Ukraine , some people begin injecting when they are as young as 12 years old and account for more than 20 % of people who inject drugs in these countries . o In Eastern Europe and South East Asia , where the growing number of young people who are injecting drugs largely drives the HIV epidemic , young people aged 15-24 make up one third of new HIV infections . o Approximately 51 % of street children in St . Petersburg , Russia have experience with injecting and more than 30 % of people who inject drugs in Albania report initial injection between the ages of 15 and 19 . ( UNICEF . 2006 ) o In Manipur , India , the proportion of young drug injectors ( median age 25 ) infected with HIV increased from virtually zero in 1989 to 56 percent within six months , and to between 60 and 75 percent by 2003 . ( UNODC . 2004 )