Aids is the number one cause of death and disability among Kenyans aged between 10 and 24 years.

A total of 2,531 youths aged between 15 and 19 years — most in secondary school— died in 2013, followed by 2,398 between 10 and 14 years and 1,719 aged between 20 and 24 years, says the Health Metrics and Evaluation study, which was published on Tuesday.

According to estimates by the National Aids Control Council, 435,225 adolescents aged between 10 and 19 are HIV positive, while another 119,899 have the virus “but have not been identified.”

The Health ministry says there are at least 195,299 adolescents on Anti-retroviral treatment and another 315,000 who need it.

In addition, the annual new infections among children aged between 0 and 14 years is 12,511, while for those above 14 but under 25 years is 13,148.

EARLY SEX DEBUT

The ministry attributes the new infections to early sex where 20 per cent of youths aged between 15 and 24 had sex for the first time before their 15th birthday.

The study released on Tuesday shows that the fastest-growing risk factor for ill health in young people aged between 10 and 24 years in the past 23 years has been unsafe sex.

Some of the infections however occurred in early childhood, since currently there are over 11,000 new cases in children, mainly from infected mothers.

Another cause of premature death among adolescents is diarrhoea especially among those between 10 and 14 years.

Diarrhoea is however the third biggest killer among youth aged between 20 and 24 years after Aids and tuberculosis.

The study lists other causes of deaths as interpersonal violence, suicide, depression, road accidents, TB and malaria.

The report was published as part of a broader survey by the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Well-being. It blames the situation on chronic under investment in the protection, health and well-being of the 1.8 billion young people aged between 10 and 24 and who now make up a quarter of the global population.

The Lancet’s commission’s lead author Prof George Patton of the  University of Melbourne, Australia, says the generation of young people could transform the future of the world for the better.

“This means it will be crucial to invest urgently in their health, education, livelihoods, and participation,” he says in the report, adding that adolescence brings a different and more intense engagement with the world beyond the immediate family.

Most health problems and lifestyle risk factors for disease in later life such as mental health disorders, obesity, smoking and unsafe sex occur during the youthful years. However, the research argues, adolescents aged 10 to 24 years have the poorest health-care coverage of any age group.

The study argues that investing in adolescent health and well-being — including education — would bring many benefits stretching into future adult life and the next generation of children.

Globally, the study shows two in three young people are growing up in countries where preventable and treatable health problems such as Aids, early pregnancy, unsafe sex, depression, injury, and violence remain a daily threat to their health and life opportunities.

Adolescents also have to grapple with rising levels of obesity and mental health disorders, high unemployment, and the risk of radicalisation, according to the report.