The HEY BABY and Khanyisa Ngemfundo teams present at the International Workshop on HIV & Adolescence 2023 in Zambia
Members of the Adolescent Accelerators Research Hub presented at the International Workshop on HIV and Adolescence 2023 in Lusaka, Zambia.
A/Prof Elona Toska spoke on ‘Targeting for Triumph: HIV and SRHR Programming for Multi-Dimensional Adolescent Well-Being’ during a session titled ‘Reaching Adolescents – Those Most in Need'.
AARHub team members, Chelsea Coakley, Jenny Chen-Charles, Janina Jochim, Khosi Kubeka, Hlokoma Mangqalaza and Christina Laurenzi, conducted presentations using data collected from the HEY BABY and Khanyisa Ngemfundo studies, and the Screen & Support project.
Click on the titles below to view and download the presentations:
Each year, approximately 21 million adolescent pregnancies occur, of which half are unplanned (World Health Organisation, 2023). Adolescent motherhood hinders young mothers’ chances of continuing with school, and is associated with higher exposure to domestic violence, poor food security and exposure to HIV (Toska et al., 2022). Between 2017 and 2022, South Africa has seen an alarming increase in the rate of adolescent pregnancies (Baron et al., 2022). Currently, there is limited literature focused on how the school environment can create a protective environment and a platform for care and support for pregnant learners and adolescent mothers. This study sought to actively engage adolescent mothers and other young parents and young people in co-designing a school-based support package.
Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) account for six in seven new HIV acquisitions in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). PrEP is recommended by the WHO and UNAIDS for AGYW in high HIV burden areas. A scoping review was conducted to map currently available research on real-world PrEP roll-out among AGYW in SSA
Approximately 16 million young women aged 15-19 years give birth around the world. Over 50% of these births are unplanned and take place in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Early and unplanned pregnancy expose young women to higher risk of contracting HIV and other negative health and social consequences that could result in school dropout and difficulties during pregnancy.
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Civil society organisations (CSOs) – in partnership with schools - are well placed to respond to the support needs of pregnant adolescents and adolescent mothers and have an important role to play in supporting positive health and educational outcomes for this group.
Young women living with HIV (YWHIV) are likelier to experience overlapping risks to their wellbeing, including violence and poor mental health. Better screening approaches are needed. Understanding how to ask YWHIV about their lives and potential risks is critical to tailoring health services to meet their needs. Youth peer supporters may be an important entry point. While task-shifting approaches to peer supporters may help to effectively reach YWHIV in non-stigmatizing ways and integrate screening into HIV care, there is limited evidence on how youth peer supporters can implement screening. We tested an approach to improving screening in Lusaka, Zambia. Through the Screen & Support project—a collaboration among University of Cape Town, Paediatric-Adolescent Treatment Africa (PATA), and community-based Kabangwe Creative Initiative Association (KCIA)—we aimed to co-develop and test a screening tool to be administered to YWHIV by peer supporters.
Rates of new HIV infections among adolescents (especially girls) continue to exceed UNAIDS targets in Eastern and Southern Africa. Adolescence is a transitional period towards independence: high risk of engagement in sexual behaviours (e.g., condomless sex, transactional sex), increasing the risk of HIV infection. Adolescents’ engagement in sexual risk behaviours is strongly linked to the broader social and economic conditions that they live and grow up in. Structural interventions (e.g., antipoverty cash transfers; caregiver support programmes) seek to reduce engagement in these behaviours by altering adolescents’ socioeconomic environment.
