… Risky trends among youth spark concern
Ntsoaki Motaung
Lebohang Mothae, the Executive Director of the National AIDS Commission (NAC), has highlighted a troubling trend among today’s youth: a greater fear of unplanned pregnancies than the risk of contracting HIV.
Speaking at a recent journalists’ briefing on Sustainability Planning in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Mothae addressed the urgent need for effective sexual education.
She indicated that lately, it seemed that comprehensive HIV education was better understood by older generations who lived through the HIV/AIDS crisis.
The older generation, she said, experienced firsthand the devastating effects, where every day, someone was dying from AIDS. In contrast, she added, the younger generation was less concerned about HIV because they see many individuals living healthy lives despite being HIV positive.
Mothae further revealed: “Our youth are so clever that they engage in risky behaviors to avoid pregnancy. For instance, they resort to anal sex, believing it will prevent pregnancy. This trend is particularly noticeable at the high school level.”
“So because they fear pregnancy and the responsibility that comes with it, they found that they can do anal sex and do not get pregnant,” she added.
Mothae stressed that the NAC must work closely with the Ministry of Education and Training to reassess how Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) addresses the emerging risks youth face.
She indicated that they needed to ask themselves if CSE was still sufficient.
“Are we giving young people the comprehensive information they need to understand the dangers they face? What more can we include in our everyday messages to clarify the risks of certain sexual behaviours?” she asked.
She emphasised the urgency of adapting to new challenges.
“We must find ways to intervene because the data shows us that we still have gaps to fill. If we don’t address these evolving dynamics, we will find ourselves regressing in our progress,” she warned.
Providing an overview of Lesotho’s HIV status as of 2023, Maema Ramaema, NAC’s Strategic Information Manager, revealed that an estimated 271,396 people were living with HIV in the country, with a prevalence rate of 18.5 percent.
The year also saw 4,810 new infections and 4,056 AIDS-related deaths.
“Half of the new infections are among adolescents and young people aged 10-24. This highlights the significant amount of work still required to protect these vulnerable groups,” Ramaema said.
Despite these figures, he noted that the national AIDS response was moving in the right direction, and Lesotho was on track to meet the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 95-95-95 targets by 2025.
However, Ramaema cautioned that there was a pressing need to accelerate investments in combination prevention strategies and close gaps for men, children, and other vulnerable populations, particularly the youth and key populations.
“Lesotho must achieve the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV,” Ramaema stated, calling for a targeted movement to attain zero vertical transmission from mother to child.
