According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Children are doing a better job in preventing AIDS and controlling their sex. Among the changes noted by the CDC, from 1991 to 2011:
- The proportion of American high school students who have ever had sex fell from 54% to 47%. Among African-Americans the proportion who have ever had sex fell from 82% to 60%.
- Among sexually active students, the proportion who used a condom the last time they had sex increased from 46% to 60%. Among black students, that rate grew from 48% to 65%.
- The number of new HIV infections hit a plateau of 50,000 a year.
- Nearly 6% of gay black men under 30 are newly infected with the AIDS virus each year, with one in four black gay men infected by age 25.
While most of the news is positive, I recently heard that the number of AIDS cases in Washington DC is higher than in some African countries.