World AIDS day: Let's talk about sex

At a time when it’s never been easier to access information – the fact that young people are still contracting HIV is heartbreaking

Nursing students and medical staff hold candles and stand by a formation in the shape of a red ribbon, the universal symbol of awareness and support for those living with HIV, made with candles (AP)

When a friend broke the news back in 2010 I was convinced, as you hear so many times when someone dies 50 years before their time, that it was a mistake. Clint was fit, healthy, and one of the most vibrant and 'alive' people you could ever meet.

Clint was also HIV positive, and he changed my life.

Back in 2004, I was working as a radio producer when I got my very first documentary commission - a piece for BBC Radio One to go out on World AIDS Day, about young people in the UK living with HIV. I'd been inspired to make such a programme because it occurred to me that I had not seen an HIV awareness campaign that I could recall since I was a small child and was being warned not to 'die of ignorance'. Those famous John Hurt narrated adverts with the iceberg and the tombstones were vivid in my mind 20 years on. But why had there not been such a powerful campaign since? Where was the information on HIV for those of us who were too young to understand what this seemingly terrifying disease meant? The realisation that most kids my age had apparently missed out on being educated about this preventable disease shocked me greatly, and I started looking into the infection rates in our demographic. Sure enough, at that point in 2004, eighteen people were being diagnosed with HIV every day. One in three of those were between 15 and 30 years old.

During the making of this documentary I met Clint Walters, who had been diagnosed HIV positive when he was 17. He contracted HIV from his second sexual partner and got very sick, very quickly. When the doctors decided to test him for HIV, all Clint new about it was that “Mark Fowler from EastEnders had it”. He, like me, had been too young to really be affected by those now infamous 80s telly adverts – and had felt let down by the sex education he received at school. When he got his diagnosis, he said: “I just realised my life had completely changed and all those dreams I’d had had completely gone. I found it hard to hang on to anything I could firmly believe in. I felt completely lost”.

Clint though was a fighter, and thanks his iron will and amazing family, swore that he would do what he could to prevent other young people getting infected simply because they didn’t know enough about the risks, and didn’t have the confidence to negotiate safe sexual relations. He dedicated his life to educating young people about HIV.

The day we hit Oxford Street and quizzed young kids about HIV was depressing. The ignorance was shocking. “You can get it from kissing”. “It’s only a problem in Africa or if you’re gay”. And the ever-present “it won’t happen to me”.

In my view there were two reasons for this apathy back then, and it’s frustratingly it’s not that different now. Firstly, a lack of education – in and out of the classroom. There’s been no shortage of media coverage of government campaigns warning against teenage pregnancy, chlamydia and other rampant STIs. But think about it. When did you last see a campaign educating us about HIV? In schools the situation is equally frustrating. One of the failings of the national curriculum when it comes to teaching the young ‘uns about the birds and the bees, is that the Sex Ed policy is as simple as Joey Essex.

It states kids should be taught about the physicality of sex and contraception, and the science behind HIV…..and that’s about it. If that’s not limiting enough, the fact that each (State) school can choose to expand (or not) on this, means that the knowledge kids leave school with when it comes to sex education, sexual empowerment and HIV depends entirely on how each school chooses to tackle it. Some school are of course attempting to face these topics head on, and lucky are the kids that get those progressive teachers, because not all do. Talk about a health lottery.

Secondly – HIV is seen as a chronic illness now. Thankfully, those amazing men and women in white coats have made so many breakthroughs in the world of ant-virals that people with HIV can live a full, active and healthy life. Which, it goes without saying, is an incredible thing. However, this post-80s generation is in danger of thinking HIV can be easily controlled if contracted. HIV may not be a death sentence anymore, but the strength of the medication, the possible side effects, the experimentation whilst the correct combinations of drugs is achieved are all aspects of living with HIV that no-one I know would want to experience could they avoid it.

But this was all back in 2004. What is the picture now, as we move into 2014?

According to the latest figures from Public Health England, an estimated 98,400 people were living with HIV in the UK in 2012. Worryingly, an estimated 21,900 people living with HIV were unaware of their infection. Between 2010 and 2012, over 8000 people under 35 were diagnosed with HIV.

In a world when facts are at our fingertips in seconds, at a time when it’s never been easier to access information – the fact that young people are still contracting HIV is heartbreaking.

Yes, mistakes will happen. Humans screw up and do things which put them in a vulnerable position. But can we as a society - the government, educators and parents – put our hands on our hearts and say we did everything possible to make sure our young people at least understand the risks they’re taking, before they take them?

When it comes to HIV, in the 80s we were warned not to die of ignorance. Medical advancements have dealt with the death part. So maybe now we can now work on the ignorance.

Louise is a journalist, presenter and documentary maker. She reports for Watchdog (BBC One), Watchdog Daily (BBC One) and ITV London News.