JOHANNESBURG, April 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Ten percent of South African youth are infected with HIV, and young women, who were often forced into unwanted sex, are the worst affected, according to a new survey released here on Wednesday.

    The survey of 12,000 young people aged between 15 and 25, who were interviewed by the reproduction health research unit of Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, showed that one in 10 youth had contracted the virus that can lead to AIDS.

    The UNAIDS agency estimates that about 5.3 million people of a total population of 45 million in South Africa were infected with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2002, the highest ratio in the world.

    Helen Reese, executive director of the unit, said alcohol and drug abuse contributed to the spread of HIV and AIDS.

    About 10 percent of young people reported to have used alcohol or drugs and 3 percent said they achieved intravenous drugs, according to the survey.

    "If this is a trend that is beginning to creep in... it's clearly something else that we need to be very mindful of and to be watching for," said Reese.

    The survey showed that young women are bearing the brunt of theHIV/AIDS epidemic. Of the 10 percent of the infected, 77 percent are women.

    "The research shows one in four women aged between 20 and 24 isHIV positive, compared with one in 14 men of the same age," said health expert Sue Valentine.

    "Almost one-third of sexually experienced young women reported their first sexual encounter had been unwanted and that they had been coerced by their male partner into having sex," she added. Enditem