Many Asia Pacific youths are still ignorant of HIV/AIDS risks, and others continue to have unsafe sex despite being warned about the dangers, UNICEF said Monday. UN and government representatives in the region are meeting in Bangkok Tuesday to develop better ways to educate youths about health topics. The meeting will investigate how socioeconomic change is affecting the region's youths -- including increased drug and alcohol use, earlier sexual debut, the requirements of a cash economy and HIV/AIDS risks.

"Only 33 percent of children aged from nine-17 years old claim to know 'a lot' or 'something' about HIV/AIDS," UNICEF stated. Such awareness was 12 percent in Laos and 1 percent in East Timor. "As many as 58 percent of this age say they know nothing about the dangers of illegal drug use," it said. "Research among vocational students in northern Thailand has shown that even when awareness of HIV/AIDS is high, unsafe sex and drug use can still be common."

"It is not enough simply to provide young people with information. They must also be helped to develop the skills that will enable them to negotiate, to assess risk and to make decisions," Robert Bennoun, UNICEF's regional HIV/AIDS advisor, said in a statement.

Girls are often unable to negotiate the terms of sexual relations, including the use of condoms, UNICEF said. Young injection drug users aware of the disease risks fail to adopt safer behaviors for various reasons, including low self-esteem, it said.

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