Inadequate education in schools has been blamed for a 14-year-old girl becoming the youngest person to contract the AIDS virus through sex. AIDS Foundation education officer Lin Oi-chu said existing sex education programmes in schools meant teenagers did not appreciate all the dangers of unprotected sex. 'Schools haven't done enough work on sex education. It isn't a compulsory subject required by the Education Department. It's all up to individual schools if they choose to talk about sex with students. 'But a lot of teachers don't feel at ease or don't have the skills to discuss the topic with teenagers,' Ms Lin said. 'The Government hasn't even produced a custom-made advertisement with messages targeting the teenagers,' she said. A workshop, organised by the Committee on Education and Publicity on AIDS, will teach about 100 secondary teachers how to talk about sex with students, so they can properly explain the dangers of contracting AIDS. A newly revised teaching kit will also be given to teachers during the two-day AIDS conference to be held in November. On Tuesday the Department of Health announced a 14-year-old girl had contracted HIV through having sex. The number of HIV-infected people in Hong Kong is now 702.
