UN Analysis Final.pdf - United Nations in Cambodia

FIGURE 6-3. TRENDS IN HIV PREVALENCE AMONG POPULATION AGED 15-49, 1995-2006
3.0
2.5
2.0
Cambodia
Urban
Rural
Percent
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Source: National Centre for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STD (NCHADS)
YOUTH AWARENESS OF HIV AND AIDS
Knowledge of HIV among Cambodian people is high. According to the 2004 Cambodia Socio-Economic
Survey (CSES), about 90 per cent of Cambodians have heard of HIV. The same survey estimated that
knowledge of HIV among youths aged 15-24 was also high, ranging from 88 per cent to 98 per cent across
all areas of the country. CDHS 2005 revealed similar results (98.3 per cent of men and 98.7 per cent of
women aged 15-24 have heard of HIV). The 2006 RHIYA Cambodia Endline Survey, covering 2,056 young
people aged 10-24 across its seven target provinces, showed similar findings, with almost 100 per cent of
both young males and young females saying that they have heard about HIV and AIDS.
However, the same cannot be said of young people belonging to Cambodia’s local ethnic groups. These
groups comprise of upland ethnic minority and indigenous people, the majority of whom live in remote rural
or mountainous regions. Figure 6-4 shows that, the proportion of young males and females from ‘other’ local
ethnic groups who have heard of HIV is comparatively lower than those of other ethnicities in the same age
cohort (CSES 2004). Poverty also limits awareness of the impact of HIV and AIDS. For example, most homeless
or street youths, young migrants seeking jobs and young female sex workers face risk of infection due to their
limited access to information, or the relationships they may establish to satisfy their need for intimacy and a
feeling of belonging, or for food or protection (Mith Samlanh-Friends 2002).
72 Situation Analysis of Youth in Cambodia