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South Africa is one of the countries with the highest prevalence of HIV infection in the world,particularly among the youth between the ages 15 and 24 years.The number of infections among the youth in South Africa is still increasing and this does not exclude the youth under study in the community of Eersterust.The HIV and AIDS epidemic is affecting large numbers of adolescents, throughout South Africa leading to serious psychological, social, economic and educational problems. Because of the devastating effect and rapid increase of HIV-infections among adolescents,it has become evident that not only government departments(Department of Health and Department of Education),but also community-based educational support structures (organisations) should share the responsibility by playing a pro-active role in awareness and the curbing of the spread of HIV-infection among adolescents.Various researchers have been focusing on the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of adolescents but limited research has been done on the contribution of community-based educational support programmes with regard to creating awareness and the curbing of the further spread of HIV-infection among adolescents.

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William Louw is an academic with a BA, BEd, MEd and PhD degrees. He investigated how educational programmes of community-based support structures address the HIV and AIDS educational needs of adolescents. Community-based educational programmes serve as a supplementary resource for schools and parents in the awareness and prevention of HIV and AIDS.

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