RiMajolOnline Represents the People of the Marshall Islands :: View topic

Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 1:13 pm Post subject: MOH releases ’06 HIV data

While the United Nations this week reported that the rate of new HIV infections has dropped 25 percent among youth in African countries heavily affected by AIDS, a just-publicly released report on the Marshall Islands confirms low levels of awareness about HIV and AIDS among Majuro’s youth population.

The RMI report — approved for public release last week by the Ministry of Health nearly four years after it was initially prepared — is based on a survey of close to 400 Marshallese aged 15 to 24 conducted in late 2006. The survey showed that three out of five sexually active youth did not use condoms to prevent the spread of HIV. The majority (70 percent) of the 388 youth said they were sexually active.

“The main issues exposed by the survey,” said the report, are the need to improve young people’s access to:
• Condoms
• Confidential testing for sexually transmitted infections (STI)/HIV
• Education on HIV and STI transmission.

“These areas need to be addressed to prevent and limit the transmission of HIV and STIs in the Republic of the Marshall Islands,” the report said. Ministry of Health has reported a steady increase in the number of newly confirmed HIV cases the past two years.

Sixty percent of the young men said they were “too scared” to seek treatment when they experienced symptoms of sexually transmitted infections.

Suggesting why HIV is likely to continue spreading, the report noted: “HIV knowledge questions revealed that less than five percent of all participants knew the correct answers to the prevention related questions.”

On the difficulty of getting people at risk to take HIV tests, the report said: “Overall answers indicated that concerns over confidentiality and lack of information about the service made the participants believe that no confidential testing was available.”

The Ministry noted that this “is the first survey of this kind conducted in the RMI. The data will provide valuable information to guide future education and intervention needs.”

• For the full report, go to http://www.spc.int/hiv/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=76&Itemid=148

GIFF JOHNSON
Marshall Islands Journal

Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 11:21 pm Post subject:

MOH, ejellok kajitok ak kwon jibe im likit aolep rein renaninmej ilo juon regulated compound eo me ettolok jen Public, einwot ilo juon aeto bwe en ammna am control e situation ne.. ij ba kwon regulate i, bwe kwon komman kakien ko ikijeen visitations im ko eierlok wot an family ko.....this should be your first step to resolved this scary issue... emman ke am copy?.. MOH?