A program of youth clubs in Ethiopia, which began one year ago on World AIDS Day 2006 (1 December), is proving immensely popular - with thousands of young Ethiopians enjoying the opportunity to socialise, participate in drama and play sport, while also being educated about HIV/AIDS.

Ethiopia's youth account for approximately 25 per cent of the population, with a high rate of HIV/AIDS in the 15-24 year age group. As such, HIV/AIDS education is vital in stemming the spread of the disease.

ChildFund's youth club program offers a combination of recreational and educational activities to inform young people about HIV/AIDS, including how the disease is transmitted and how to protect against infection. Twelve months on, the program is achieving significant results.

"The youth clubs have proven extremely popular with more 43,000 Ethiopians attending in the past year," explains ChildFund Australia CEO, Nigel Spence.

"While it may sound simple enough, in Ethiopia there are very few places where young people can gather to relax and catch up with their friends, so even establishing youth clubs is a very big deal. And, as with youth all around the world, they tend to get their information from their peers so we have specially trained peer-educators on hand to run education sessions on HIV/AIDS and to answer questions."

ChildFund is currently working with 14 clubs that target both in and out-of-school youth. Support will be provided to another 14 clubs in the next few months. In addition, ChildFund has supplied two youth sports clubs with recreational materials, such as tape decks, as well as educational materials including booklets and flyers to accompany role plays and other interactive learning opportunities. The education and entertainment sessions have been so successful that additional sessions are being requested on top of the planned monthly activities.

The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopian youth is partly due to the significant misunderstanding about the disease, with more than 75 per cent of youth having at least one misconception about how HIV/AIDS is transmitted. Only 35 per cent of youth have extensive knowledge of the disease and, while condoms are widely available, only 50 per cent of sexually active youths regularly use them.

Nigel adds: "The establishment of the youth clubs is just one of the many HIV/AIDS programs that ChildFund Australia is undertaking in Ethiopia and other developing countries to curb the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

"With an estimated 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, and more than two million diagnosed each year, there is still much to be done."