THE Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL) is reporting an increase in new HIV cases among youngsters under 24 years who access the entity's treatment sites.
JASL, the country's main advocacy group in the fight against HIV, told reporters and editors at a recent Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange that while a general increase in HIV cases is not being observed, there is a concentration of new cases in all its sites among young people less than 24 years old.
JASL has treatment sites in Kingston and St Andrew, St Ann and St James, but its programmes span islandwide.
Kandasi Levermore, JASL executive director, said while the increase is from JASL-specific programmatic data, the trend is heartbreaking.
“We can't talk about what is happening nationally. It is very disappointing when you find people practising unsafe sex, leading to HIV. It is hard when you go into a space and you're talking about HIV and people literally don't know enough. They don't know what puts them at risk, they don't know how to prevent the transmission of it, they don't know who are at risk. People tend to live in their own bubbles and say it's not applicable to me and I think those are the heartbreaking stories when you see someone who comes to you, didn't know and then you have to talk about managing the virus instead of preventing,” Levermore said.