New materials for AIDS education at school.

According to a newly-published Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) review of data from four continents, good-quality sex education helps delay first intercourse and leads to lower levels of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The following materials may be useful: 1) Learning and teaching about AIDS at school, Geneva: UNAIDS Technical Update, October 1997. An eight-page document analyzes why AIDS education in schools is often denied to young people and suggests ways to overcome these problems; 2) Integrating HIV/STD prevention in the school setting: a position paper, Geneva: UNAIDS, 1997. This is a two-page document with programming principles, best practice to date, and goals in school AIDS education, from a life skills perspective; 3) Impact of HIV and sexual health education on the sexual behavior of young people: a review update, Geneva: UNAIDS, 1997. From a comprehensive literature review of evaluated interventions, 46 are presented that had an impact on behavior. Effects on age at first intercourse, sexual activity and protected sex, as well as gender and media issues in the context of education programs, are discussed. full text