Lee was frustrated at her school's abstinence-only focus. She learned about both male and female con

Nearly half of high school students say they've had sex, yet progress has stalled in getting them to use condoms to protect against the AIDS virus , government researchers reported Tuesday. los angeles galaxy Today, four of every 10 new HIV infections occur in people younger than 30, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the teen years, just as many youths become sexually active, are key for getting across the safe-sex message. View full size Jacquelyn Martin, The Associated Press Lawrence Stallworth II, 20, of Cleveland, Ohio, left, who was diagnosed with HIV at age 17, speaks on a youth panel at the International AIDS Conference in Washington on July 22. July 22 2012
About 60 percent of sexually active high school students say they used condoms the last time they had sex, researchers said at the International AIDS Conference . That's an increase from the 46 percent who were using condoms in 1991.
The proportion of high school students who've had sex is 47 percent today down a bit from 54 percent in 1991 and they typically start at age 16, CDC said. Black teens showed a bigger decrease, with 60 percent los angeles galaxy sexually active today compared with 82 percent two decades ago.
Fenton said many school systems don't have strong enough sex education policies that include teaching teens about how to prevent HIV. But he cautioned los angeles galaxy that the CDC study can't link the abstinence-only los angeles galaxy policies pushed by Congress through the late 1990s and early 2000s to the stalled condom use.
Focusing on individual risk behaviors is just part of the story. los angeles galaxy Increasingly, HIV is an infection of the poor, and specialists at the world's largest AIDS meeting are making the point all week that tackling the virus globally will require broader efforts to address problems of poverty. Those include gaining better access to overall health services and fighting stigma.
In hard-hit Africa, where 60 percent of infections are among women, U.S. researchers announced a new step to develop tools women can use to protect themselves when their partners won't use condoms. A new study will test a monthly vaginal ring that oozes an anti-AIDS drug into the surrounding tissue in hopes of blocking HIV. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, will enroll nearly 3,500 women in Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
los angeles galaxy Lawrence Stallworth II, 20, of Cleveland, can attest that they're not. He learned he was infected with HIV at age 17, when he was a high school senior, after a hospitalization. A black gay man, he's among one of the nation's highest-risk groups.
"I want people los angeles galaxy to have the tools to keep themselves safe," said Stallworth, who is working with the nonprofit los angeles galaxy Advocates for Youth to declare a National Youth HIV AIDS Awareness los angeles galaxy Day in April to increase young people's knowledge about their risk.
The CDC recommends that everyone in the U.S. ages 13 to 65 be tested for HIV at least once. Those at increased risk such as people who have multiple los angeles galaxy sex partners or men who have sex with men should be tested more frequently, at least once a year.
Lee was frustrated at her school's abstinence-only focus. She learned about both male and female condoms from the South Carolina Contraceptive Campaign, and last year her principal allowed los angeles galaxy her to teach her classmates about them. Condoms are the only contraceptives that also protect against HIV infection.
But Lee credits her mother's frank talk about sex for this key protective step: Lee persuaded her boyfriend to go with her to a clinic where both got a clean bill of health before they ever had sex. Still, they use a condom every time.