Approximately 240,000 people are estimated to be infecting with HIV in Myanmar, of which almost two third are young people, said a media release of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Monday.

Besides, about 100,000 women are currently living with HIV, constituting risks for many new-borns to be infected with the virus, the release said on the occasion of the World AIDS Day which falls on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Myanmar National Strategic Plan (2006-2010) of the National AIDS Program has identified primary prevention of HIV among young people as high priority, it pointed out.

"While many challenges are still there, progress has also made in many areas," UNICEF resident representative Ramesh Shrestha noted in the release, underlining that students across Myanmar today are learning how to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS and other threats to their well-being with more than one third of all townships in the country having prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV services.

Commenting that more remains to be done, the release said the UNICEF will continue to promote knowledge on the prevention of HIV/AIDS among young people as they are moving onto adulthood, stressing the importance that they make informed decisions and avoid risk taking behaviors which may expose them to HIV infection.

According to the release, in Myanmar, UNICEF has supported the introduction of HIV/AIDS prevention and "healthy living" curriculum in primary and secondary schools nationwide, helping millions of children gain knowledge and develop skills that can help then stay healthy.

UNICEF also works with non-governmental organizations to deliver life skills training to those adolescents and young people who are out of school, the release added.

(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2008)