USAID-funded Health Policy Project has just published ‘Scaling up Evidence-Informed HIV Prevention for Adolescent Girls and Young Women’. Below is a description from the website and selected abstracts that highlight the importance of health education and information. I look forward to learn from HIFA members about current policy and practice regarding sex and HIV education for adolescent girls (and boys) in different countries. Is sex education banned in some countries and, if so, what are the consequences? Is sex and HIV education widely available in your country?

It is interesting that the report specifically calls for ‘clear policies and legislation supporting access to information and services are needed to reduce the risk of HIV transmission among young people.’ I would welcome any examples of positive and negative policies/actions by governments in relation to sex and HIV education. We shall then add these examples to the growing HIFA-Watch world map of access-to-health-information: www.hifa2015.org/hifa-watch

‘Adolescents are a critical priority in HIV prevention programming. Today’s adolescents have never known a world without AIDS. People born with HIV and those becoming sexually active in an era of HIV and AIDS face complicated risks and challenges that were unknown to previous generations.

‘Today, 1.8 billion young people ages 10-24 comprise 44 percent of the world’s population. Many of the countries with the highest HIV prevalence are experiencing a massive “youth bulge” in population, so even with decreasing HIV prevalence, the absolute number of young people living with HIV or at risk of acquiring HIV will grow in the next five years. There is also growing evidence that many high-risk behaviors among key populations begin during adolescence.

‘Young women are especially vulnerable, with HIV infection rates nearly twice as high as those for young men. At the end of 2012, approximately two-thirds of new HIV infections in adolescents aged 15 to 19 years were among girls. An AIDS-free generation is not possible without addressing the specific needs of adolescents-especially girls-that put them at risk for HIV acquisition.

‘Scaling up evidence-informed interventions for adolescents is essential. This brief offers priority interventions for programmers based on evidence from successful programming for women and girls; though a number of the interventions listed also benefit men and boys. The brief is divided into three parts: evidence-informed priority areas for programming; implementation and research gaps that must be addressed; and considerations for scaling up successful programming for girls and young women. To download this brief, please visit www.healthpolicyproject.com or www.whatworksforwomen.org ‘

SELECTED EXTRACTS

‘Evidence among adults has shown that community-based interventions (including media) that provide accurate information about HIV transmission can significantly reduce HIV stigma and discrimination (works among adults)

‘Promising interventions such as encouraging communication between adults and young people about reproductive health information, can increase protective behaviors among adolescents, and providing HIV prevention education by people living with HIV (who wish to sero-disclose) to youth can reinforce messages about protective behavior.’

‘Studies have consistently shown that increasing women’s access to information, skills, technologies, services, social support, and income increased their ability to protect themselves from HIV’

‘Adolescents are often overlooked in government bureaucracy and the information needs of young people are a low priority.’

‘Substantial evidence exists that sex and HIV education with certain characteristics (e.g., a clear focus on HIV prevention; addressing situations that might lead to unwanted or unprotected intercourse, how to avoid these, and how to get out of them; a focus on knowledge, values, norms, attitudes, and skills; employment of participatory teaching methods, etc.) prior to the onset of sexual activity may be effective in reducing stigma and preventing transmission of HIV by increasing age at first sex and, for those who are sexually active, increasing condom use and HIV testing, and reducing the number of sexual partners.’

‘The quality of sex education is as important as its provision; fidelity to the successful components of pilot programs must be maintained. Training for teachers to conduct age-appropriate, participatory sex education that can improve students’ knowledge and skills, is essential.’

Best wishes, Neil

Let’s build a future where people are no longer dying for lack of healthcare knowledge. Join HIFA: www.hifa2015.org