Technology has its own way of making sure that things are easily done. Now, almost everything you want and need is right at your fingertips. Websites and smartphone apps give us the luxury of getting what we want without having to leave home. However, is it really doing us good?
A recent report from the UNICEF showed that the increased number of mobile dating apps, such as Tinder and Grinder, is one of the major reasons the epidemic among young gay and bisexual men in the Asia-Pacific region skyrocketed.
Although the rate of new HIV infections among adolescents has been gradually decreasing globally, the number of new HIV cases among teenagers in the Asia-Pacific region is saying another thing. For example, in the Philippines alone, HIV cases among adolescents ballooned from an estimated 800 in 2010 to 1,210 in 2014 and in 2015 a shocking 1,403 cases were reported. What's even worse is there is approximately 220,000 young people between the ages 10 and 19 lived with HIV in the region in 2014, with the concern that new infections will affect major cities like Bangkok and Hong Kong.
Niluka Perera, coordinator at Youth Voices Count, told Al Jazeera how easy it is to have internet access these days. Everybody who has a smartphone can access the web; there are people out there that create phony Facebook profiles where groups are set up mainly for sex. And sadly, the internet now offers unlimited opportunities for sexual activities.
The slight increase in the new HIV infection has been associated with a dangerous sexual behavior, multiple partners, unprotected sex with an HIV-positive partner, and a low uptake of HIV testing. But many claim that the soaring number of mobile dating apps can be directly related to the dramatic increase in reported HIV globally.
Earlier this year, the Rhode Island Department of Health said that the significant increase in reported cases of syphilis and gonorrhea is directly connected with the national trend of popular hookup apps, like Tinder. According to the UNICEF, this technology has greatly expanded the options for casual spontaneous sex like never before. As soon as adolescents are connected to a larger network of potential sexual partners, they are enabling any HIV infections to spread further and faster.
The organization added that this generation of adolescents was not given a proper education on the ways of preventing HIV transmission, as well as how to extend life among adolescents who have already been diagnosed.
