Youth to quiz MPs on global AIDS

Young people from around the world are to ask a British parliamentary session what they are doing to tackle the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. The "Student Stop AIDS Campaign", a coalition of international youth activist groups, said the 22 October session would kick off a nationwide speaking tour of universities by young people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS from Europe, the US and Africa. Sentamu Sparks, a student and member of The AIDS Support Organisation in Uganda, said in a statement: "Young people are the group most affected by HIV/AIDS - almost 60 percent of infections last year were among 16 and 24 year olds. But we are also the group with the best chance of turning this epidemic around." Sparks said he believed young people had the power to tackle the pandemic by raising awareness, lobbying governments and educating each other.