University of Cape Town

In Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), 20 per cent of girls become pregnant before the age of 20, representing one of the world’s highest rates of adolescent pregnancy. This region also faces a pronounced challenge of adolescent parenthood.

Understanding and meeting the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of adolescents and young people, including those living with HIV, is essential in supporting this growing population to thrive.

Adolescents have the lowest rates of retention in HIV care and ART adherence when compared to other age groups. It is essential for programmers to better understand the adolescent HIV care pathways in sub-Saharan Africa, where public HIV services have been decentralised throughout the region.

Good mental health and psychosocial wellbeing is especially important for adolescents during their transition to adulthood. It can support resilience and help initiate healthy behaviours that shape long-term positive health outcomes.

This brief summarises new evidence from a longitudinal 4 years, quantitative cohort study of 1046 adolescents living with HIV in South Africa.

Eastern and Southern Africa is home to 70 per cent of adolescents, aged 10-19 years, living with HIV globally and have the highest rates of ART non-adherence.

A synthesis of UNICEF’s Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office Evidence-to-Action research partnership with the University of Oxford and University of Cape Town from 2018 to 2023 was undertaken to identify common themes and generate new insights on: What common factors put adolescents, inclu