Most of us would walk miles — or at least 10 kilometers — to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. But we probably couldn’t match the stamina of AIDS educator John Chittick. The founder of Boston’s TeenAIDS-PeerCorps — an organization devoted to stopping the spread of HIV among youth worldwide — Chittick hiked 2200 miles across six continents and 40 countries (including Brazil, Uganda, and Australia) to tell teens about what he calls the “third wave” of AIDS: a massive outbreak hitting millions of young people around the globe. Today, in fact, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS reports that half of all new HIV cases globally occur in youth ages 15 to 24. In the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 percent of new HIV cases strike 13-to-19-year-olds. The Phoenix caught up with Chittick — known as “Dr. John” to kids — at his Fitchburg home, where he is resting his feet after ending his two-year trek last month.
Q: You were one of the first to predict the teen AIDS epidemic back in 1994. What were the signs of such a trend back then?
A: There is little epidemiological evidence of young people with HIV/AIDS because they rarely get tested. But we know that STD [sexually transmitted disease] rates among youth are high, and that they have sex — usually with more than one partner. I understood it was only a matter of time before HIV/AIDS would reach the teen population. When it did, it would spread fast because teens are having sex often with each other.
Q: What has happened since?
A: Five years ago in Africa, we started seeing HIV move into the teenage population. Today, one in three teenagers in South Africa has HIV, according to the International AIDS Conference. South Africa has the highest incidence of AIDS among youth in sub-Saharan Africa.... But this [number] will grow larger and larger — unless young people stop having sex or all use condoms.
Q: You went on a two-year trek around 40 countries — alone. Why?
A: I’d gone to conferences and talked with doctors, but nobody was getting the message out to teenagers. I decided that I have the expertise, the ability, and the burning desire to get information to young people. I would at least train them in AIDS prevention. The whole idea for a global trip came to me about two years ago. My mentor, [Harvard University professor] Jonathan Mann, was going to Switzerland when his plane went down. I heard this and thought: life is so short. You never know when you’ll die. I knew I had to do something dramatic. So I thought I’d do a walk. I’ve had a triple bypass and diabetes. I’m not the healthiest guy in the world.
Q: You went from India to South Africa to Cuba to Serbia. Was there any unifying link among the young people of these countries?
A: Adolescence is the one time when everyone shares the same emotional, psychological, and physical developments. Young people are breaking away from their families and trying to find their identities. They’re looking for friends and lovers. There is also a globalization factor. Everywhere you go, kids watch MTV. They go to Hollywood movies. To them, the movies are America. So America is often about sex, and no consequences. This is modern living to them. They all want to be Americans.
Q: How exactly did you reach out to them?
A: I’d introduce myself and ask young people about themselves — it breaks the ice. Then I’d say, “Look, if you want to go to school or have a family, you cannot get HIV.” I’d ask them to help me spread the word. Very rarely did I get turned down. Kids are altruistic. If you say to them, “Don’t have sex,” they say, “Yeah, right.” But if you ask young people to help, they respond.
Q: In your travels, you’ve been jailed, harassed, and intimidated — what sticks out most?
A: Colombia was the scariest country. I’m normally not afraid to travel, but I had the worst feeling there. Guns were everywhere. Our car would be stopped by police, and then by the narco squads. The kids [who volunteered] were frightened. I didn’t know there could be so much lawlessness. Colombia was the only place in the world where young people refused to take me into their neighborhoods out of fear for what could happen to me. It’s a very different place today. It’s going down the tubes fast.
Q: What could American teens learn from those you met on your walks?
A: That the teen AIDS epidemic has emerged, and is spreading. Just look at the amount of young people who come here and travel abroad. In my upcoming book [about the walk], I talk about how certain cities will become meccas for migratory AIDS among young people — Boston is one of them. More than 100,000 youth come to this city every year. They have sex partners, and often one-night stands. Many don’t use condoms because they don’t see their peers getting sick. Amsterdam, Bangkok, Hong Kong are other places where tremendous amounts of young people travel in and out.
Q: Would you say that it’s possible to curb teen AIDS?
A: I would have been more pessimistic a few years ago. On this trip, I saw kids willing to help. That will never stop teen AIDS. But it can stop the further spread. We can pass the AIDS-prevention message the same way that HIV is transmitted, from one friend to another friend to another.
Q: So will there be another global walk for you?
A: There will be regional walks instead. The next one will be in Central America and the Caribbean, where most migration of young people to the United States originates. In Haiti and the Dominican Republic, there are epidemics right now. I want to go and tell kids what’s up.
For more information, videos, and articles on Chittick’s global walk, check out the TeenAIDS-PeerCorps Web site at www.teenaids.org.
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