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)