Most countries have a legally defined age of majority at which an individual assumes the full rights and responsibilities of an adult under the law. In most countries, the legal age of majority is 18, which is compatible with the definition of children as those between the ages of 0 and 18 in the almost universally ratified Convention on the Rights of the Child. United Nations agencies also employ various working definitions that apply to the period between childhood and adulthood: adolescents are defined as those aged 10 to 19 years; youth as those between the ages of 15 and 24; young people as those aged 10 to 24 years; and adults as those aged 18 years and above. How young people view themselves and are viewed by their societies in day-to-day life is often very different. Concepts surrounding the period and definition of youth vary greatly across societies and cultural contexts.

For growing importance, the UN General Assembly adopted the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond in 1995. These are education, employment, hunger and poverty, health, environment, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, leisure-time activities, girls and young women, youth participation in decision-making. Five additional priority areas identified by the General Assembly in its resolution 58/133 of 2003 are as follows: Globalisation, information and communication technology, HIV/AIDS, youth and armed conflict, intergenerational relations. This programme of action constituted the first global blueprint for effective national youth policies.

Health may be defined as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Youth are a relatively healthy segment of the population. Bad habits and poor hygiene, persistent behavioral risks, poor basic sanitation, and new and emerging diseases are contributing to a deadly mix that is changing the classic picture of healthy youth. Tobacco use is one of the chief preventable causes of death. There are an estimated one billion smokers in the world today, and by 2030, another one billion young adults will have started to smoke. The highest rates of smoking among youth are in developing countries. Smokers are predominantly male, but the number of young women taking up cigarettes is growing. Despite efforts to restrict the advertising and marketing of alcohol and tobacco in industrialised countries, the youth market remains a major focus of the alcohol and tobacco industries.

Premarital sex is becoming more widespread. One third or more than 100 million -- of the curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs) contracted each year are among women and men younger than 25 years of age. Having an untreated STI significantly increases the risk of HIV infection. Among the 10 million young people currently living with HIV/AIDS, 6.2 million are in sub-Saharan Africa and 2.2 million in Asia. Nearly half of all new infections occur among individuals between the ages 15 and 24 (World Youth Report).

In developing countries, one woman in three gives birth before the age of 20; in West Africa, 55 percent of women do so. Pregnancy-related problems constitute a leading cause of death for young women aged 15 to 19 years, with complications from childbirth and unsafe abortion representing the major contributing factors (UNFPA Report, 2004).

Both sexes were vastly uninformed about HIV/AIDS related issues; the level of unawareness was particularly high among girls aged 15 to 19 years. Physical and sexual abuses affect millions of girls and women but are seriously underreported. In some African countries, well over half of all women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation.

Youths are now facing serious health challenges. These challenges can be faced by taking a comprehensive action plan. Policy makers, religious and community leaders, NGOs, and medical and legislative bodies, in every culture and economic setting, can ensure inter-sectoral intervention and strong sectoral responses to save young lives and can meet the needs of young people. Creating a positive environment for promoting the right of young people to participation, equipping them with adequate knowledge, self-esteem and life skills as well as enhancing the concept of gender equality between young men and young women should be the positive steps to build up healthy young population.

AHM Kishowar Hossain is Assistant Professor, Department of Population Sciences, University of Dhaka.