Abstract
Uncircumcised adolescent males in sub-Saharan Africa are an important group to reach with voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) services due to high HIV burden occurring among this age group. Appropriateness of the content and delivery of sexual health and HIV prevention messages to adolescent VMMC clients has not been extensively described. A study was conducted in Tanzania to examine quality, delivery and content of messages provided to adolescent (aged 15–19) and adult (aged 20+) VMMC clients (n = 320). Results show that counseling of mixed age groups during group education lacked selected key messages, compared to more age-homogeneous groups. Additionally, adolescents received more comprehensive information in individual counseling compared to group education. We recommend that health care providers are provided with skills and job aides to assist them to segment VMMC clients by age; provide age-appropriate messages; and increase use of individual counseling as a means to communicate with adolescent clients.
Highlights
Adolescents, defined by World Health Organization (WHO) as individuals aged 10–19 years, are at high risk for HIV infection: in 2012, approximately 300,000 new HIV infections occurred among people in this age group [1]
Uncircumcised adolescent males in sub-Saharan Africa are an important group to reach with voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) services due to high HIV burden occurring among this age group
Adolescents who do not know that they are infected with HIV are unlikely to seek ART, and their diagnosis may be substantially delayed until they experience symptoms of advanced HIV disease, in many cases it will be too late for treatment’’ [1]
Summary
Adolescents, defined by World Health Organization (WHO) as individuals aged 10–19 years, are at high risk for HIV infection: in 2012, approximately 300,000 new HIV infections occurred among people in this age group [1]. The burden of HIV infection is high in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where 85 % of all adolescents living with HIV reside [1]. Reported risky sexual practices among adolescent males persist, including unprotected sex, alcohol abuse, and multiple concurrent sexual relationships [4,5,6,7]. The current HIV/AIDS Strategy in Tanzania (2013) emphasizes the need for prevention of new HIV infections, including youth as a high-risk group that requires special focus [8]
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