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Ten percent of youth HIV-positive - survey

    JOHANNESBURG

    One in 10 of the South African youth are living with HIV/AIDS, and young women are the worst affected, a new survey has said.

    Conducted by the University of Witwatersrand's Reproductive Health Research Unit, the survey interviewed a nationally representative sample of close to 12,000 people aged between 15 and 24.

    The results show that youth who lived in informal settlements and on farms were most at risk of HIV infection, compared to young people living in formal urban or rural areas.

    Helen Rees, the principal investigator and executive director of the research unit, was quoted by the South African Broadcasting Corporation as saying: "There is something really terrifying about these numbers. These are children whose lives haven't even begun yet."

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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