Abstract
BackgroundYouth between the ages of 15 years to 24 years account for almost half of new HIV infections in South Africa.ObjectivesTo describe the study details of the Botsha Bophelo Adolescent Health Study (BBAHS) which was an investigation of HIV risk among adolescents living in Soweto, South Africa.MethodsEligibility criteria for the BBAHS included being 14 years – 19 years old and living in one of the 41 identified formal and informal areas in the township of Soweto. A cross-sectional survey was developed between investigators and an adolescent community advisory board consisting of previously validated scales and original questions including demographics, sexual and reproductive health, health service utilisation and psychosocial behaviours.ResultsBetween 2010 and 2012, interviewers administered surveys among 830 adolescents (57% females), whose median age was 17 years (Q1, Q3: 16, 18), and found that 43% of participants identified their ethnicity as Zulu, 52% reported high food insecurity, 37% reported at least one parent had died, 15% reported living in a shack and 83% identified as heterosexual. Over half of the participants (55%) reported ever having sex (49% of females and 64% of males), 11% of whom initiated sex at < 15 years of age (3% females and 21% males). Almost half (47%) reported ever testing for HIV, 3% (n = 12) of whom self-reported being HIV-positive and 33% (n = 4) were on antiretroviral therapy.ConclusionOur study highlights important individual, relational and structural level determinants of HIV risk for adolescent men and women growing up within HIV hyperendemic settings.
Highlights
Youth worldwide make up an estimated 45% of all new HIV infections.[1,2] According to the United Nations, youth is defined as persons between 15 years and 24 years of age
Soweto is a peri-urban township of the City of Johannesburg, consisting of multiple areas,[31] where adolescent HIV and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services were available through Perinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU) and the Kganya Motsha Adolescent Centre in Soweto
The community advisory board (CAB) intentionally chose a name for the study that did not have HIV in the title because they stated that adolescents in Soweto did not want to be defined by HIV, but rather a positive statement that recalled the right to health of adolescents worldwide.[32]
Summary
Youth worldwide make up an estimated 45% of all new HIV infections.[1,2] According to the United Nations, youth is defined as persons between 15 years and 24 years of age. Almost two-thirds of the estimated 35.3 million people living with HIV in the world live in sub-Saharan Africa, and approximately 4 million of those are youth (15 years – 24 years).[2] HIV has affected South Africa, with an estimated 6.3 million people living with HIV. An estimated 2.4 million youth in South Africa have lost one or both of their parents to AIDS.[2] there is a dramatic rise in HIV infection rates around the age of sexual debut.[3,4,5]. Youth between the ages of 15 years to 24 years account for almost half of new HIV infections in South Africa
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