UNESCO Beijing Office in collaboration with Baidu and the Research Center on Health Communication and Public Media of the Communication University of China jointly launched “YouthKnows”, an interactive knowledge-sharing platform aimed at improving HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health education for young people in China, on 29 November 2013.
The “YouthKnows”, hosted by Baidu Knows which is the most popular Q&A platform in China, is a key initiative under UNESCO’s Virtual Classroom project with the goal of contributing to zero HIV infection, discrimination and death (the “three Zero” goal), as well as overall sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing among young people.
Taking place just before the 26th World AIDS Day, the event brought to attention the pressing issue of HIV prevention, especially among young people. Currently there are 780,000 people living with HIV in China. From January to September 2013, there were 70,000 new HIV infections, nearly 90% of which were through sexual transmission, according to the Health and Family Planning Commission of China. New HIV infection among young students is also increasing. The percentage of youth aged 15-24 living with HIV represent 1.7% of the total number of people living with HIV in China, as compared to only 0.9% in 2008. In contrast to this, as some studies showed, though most youth have had pre-marital sex, less than 5% of them have comprehensive sexual and reproductive health knowledge, and less than 15% of them know how to prevent HIV infection.
UNESCO has been supporting the Chinese government in the fight against HIV and AIDS through education. While promoting life skills programmes that address sensitive issues such as HIV and sexual and reproductive health as an essential component to school health education curriculum, UNESCO recognizes how the spread of Internet, mobile and smart phones, and social media has revolutionized the ways in which people seek, access, share and interact with information today. This is particularly true for young people. According to China Internet Information Center (2012), nearly two thirds of young people aged 10 to 29 in China, or 232 million in total, are using Internet. According to a research conducted in 2012 by the Research Centre on Health Communication and Public Media of the Communication University of China with UNESCO support, nearly two thirds of young people aged 15-24 (66% male and 54% female) use computer-based Internet to access HIV and sexuality-related information, while a significant percentage of them (49% male and 33% female) use mobile phones to access such information. Dating and marriage, safe sex, HIV/AIDS and STIs top the list of topics that young people search on. The research also found out that search engines and online user-generated Q&A are the most popular methods for young people to access HIV and sexuality-related information.
Clearly, using ICTs for HIV and health education has many advantages. It meets young people’s need for privacy when it comes to searching for information on sensitive issues such as HIV and sexual and reproductive health. It provides information in a personalized and flexible manner and allows interaction and participation. It also has the potential to disseminate information in a gender-sensitive way.
The launch of YouthKnows took place at the Headquarters of Baidu and was witnessed by over forty HIV/AIDS and sexuality specialists, IT specialists, health communicators, media representatives and other relevant stakeholders.
Baidu is China’s largest search engine and one of the top web service companies in the world. It covers 94% of all internet users in China including 80 million adolescents, and is used by Chinese speakers in 138 countries. Baidu Knows, under which the “YouthKnows” is hosted, enjoys a 75% market share of the total Q&A platforms in China. It serves 3 billion users every day and has, since 2005, answered 240 million questions. In his opening speech, Baidu’s Vice President, Mr Liu Jun, highlighted that “knowledge can change individual life, and technology can promote social development”. In collaboration with UNESCO, Baidu hopes to provide accurate knowledge about HIV and sexual and reproductive health to young people in China.
Ms Justine Sass, UNESCO Regional HIV and AIDS Adviser for the Asia Pacific, made a presentation on "understanding and addressing adolescent and youth health and wellbeing". She noted that “while today’s generation of adolescents and young people in the Asia-Pacific region are generally healthier and better educated than in the past, sexual and reproductive health is often an overlooked aspect of their well-being”. Therefore, this requires us “translating words into action, and leveraging collective commitment and expertise”, and the “YouthKnows” represents the innovative and collaborative approach to help adolescents and youth to survive, grow and develop to their full potential.
“Our vision is to empower every young person in China, regardless of their social and economic status, physical condition, sexual orientation and gender identity, to enjoy a healthy life that are free from health hazards, discrimination and violence, and to actively participate in the society and fully realize their potential. In order to achieve this, we should not miss the great opportunity that the new ICTs have brought to education for young people”, said Eunice Smith, representing UNESCO Beijing Office.
The Research Centre on Health Communication and Public Media of the Communication University of China, as the main implementation partner of the Virtual Classroom project, has played a strong coordinating role in the establishment of the YouthKnows. In his speech, Dr Wu Weihua, Director of the Centre, highlighted the importance of exploring the vast opportunities for sexual an
d reproductive health education enabled by new ICTs, and expressed special thanks to organizations and individuals that have committed their support to the project, including China Family Planning Association, Marie Stopes International China, Ford Foundation, Adolescent and Youth Sexuality Education Committee of China Sexology Society, etc.
“YouthKnows” is a key initiative under the project “Virtual Classroom: Using New Media to Improve HIV and Sexuality Education among Youth” that is being implemented in China and other countries. Other initiatives under the project include the development of a series of video episodes covering a variety of HIV and sexuality-related topics to shared through popular video-sharing sites; a creative competition and knowledge contest conducted through UNESCOs’ collaboration with Baidu Campus (a subsidiary of Baidu aiming at youth talents cultivation and technology innovation) and a Codefest event in collaboration with the Communication University of China aiming at mobilizing youth participation, including from young ICT developers, in creating user-generated contents, which we believe are the best way to promote self-education and peer education among young people.