New York, NY--With a $7.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) will join the fight to prevent HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa and worldwide with an indepth five-year investigation to improve programs and policies for youth. Working with research partners in four countries, AGI will go beyond previous investigations to delve deeply into the realities behind why young people engage in risky sexual behaviors and why existing programs and policies may be falling short in helping them to prevent the spread of infection.

"Sub-Saharan Africa faces the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS, particularly among adolescents, despite substantial preventive efforts. In some countries, particularly in southern and eastern Africa, adolescents have at least a 35 percent chance of dying of AIDS," according to Sara Seims, president of The Alan Guttmacher Institute. "With this grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we will finally be able to fill the knowledge gaps regarding STD and HIV infection. New evidence is desperately needed to adequately protect our most precious resource-the health and well-being of today's children and adolescents-and the entire world can benefit from seeing HIV through the eyes of young people."

Adolescents and young adults are particularly susceptible to infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases for a range of physiological and sociocultural reasons. Yet 20 years into the HIV epidemic, a fundamental lack of information regarding youth behavior, attitudes, knowledge and motivations hinders the effectiveness of youth-focused programs. AGI and its partners seek to fill these knowledge gaps, thereby stimulating the development of more effective policies and programs around STDs, HIV/AIDS and unintended pregnancy in Sub-Saharan Africa and the world.