30 Jul 09

African-American adolescents have some of the highest rates of HIV infection in the United States, and efforts to educate them about preventing the disease must include the help of their adolescent peers, new research suggests.

Despite comprising only 15 percent of the population, young African-Americans make up 61 percent of the new HIV cases among people under age 25. In the region of North Carolina where the new study took place, 85 percent of HIV/AIDS cases occur among African-Americans.

The researchers held four focus groups with 38 young African-Americans (between ages 16 and 24) who live in two rural North Carolina counties. One finding of the focus groups was that young people should undergo training to become peer educators, because they are more likely to get the attention and investment of other youth - more than adult educators would.

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