When analyzing the general vulnerability of the population, we realize that sexual transmission is among the most well-known forms of contagion among adults from 1980 to the present day. Some data from UNAIDS (the joint United Nations program on HIV/AIDS) indicate that there were around 37.7 million people worldwide living with HIV in 2020, of which 36 million were adults and 1.7 million were children (0-14 years old).
In Brazil, in addition to these statistics used as a basis for a study on the subject, some research was carried out by the Ministry of Health itself, which showed that AIDS is growing much more among young people (15-24 years old) than among adults in the last 11 years, confirming that everyone in the health area, specifically nurses, must be able to care for these young people and generate more consistent and comprehensive sexual health education for them. In Brazil, there is a very strong culture stemming from religion, where by simply talking about sex education, parents and guardians judge health professionals as influencing their children to engage in sexual acts, when in reality, we professionals only want to educate them, showing them how to prevent this disease and other events in their lives, such as an unwanted pregnancy. Another barrier found here in Brazil, due to religion, is that many parents and guardians do not talk to their children about sex education at home, leaving them with doubts and fear of talking to responsible adults. As a result, they look for answers on the internet, with friends of the same age, or even older, and end up not receiving all the prevention methods correctly.
In Brazil, we do not have nurses working in schools, as is the reality in many other countries.We believe that if a nurse were on standby in a school, which is where most of these young people (14-19) begin to have their first sexual contacts, we could educate them in a professional manner based on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections. Campaigns using youthful language would also make it much easier to share these prevention measures, thus allowing for easier and continuous communication to clear up any doubts that many people are unable to do at home.With these small changes and actions, the number of adolescents with HIV/AIDS would certainly decrease, as young people would have a safe space and source to talk about their sexual health without suffering prejudice from society or their own family.