Reducing the vulnerability of adolescents and young people to HIV and STIs

Although HIV infections are declining, certain population groups such as men who have sex (MSM) with men have been identified as people at higher risk of HIV. This study examines the sexual history and risky sexual behavior of MSM in Lome, Togo. Twenty MSM were recruited by the only HIV/AIDS center that caters to their needs in September-October, 2012. Semi-structured interviews asked participants questions about their sexual history, condom use and HIV prevention. The mean age was 22 years old. Participants were all single and had a mean number of 10.7 years of education. Three MSM were seropositive, three did not know their serostatus, and 14 were seronegative. The mean age at first sexual intercourse was 14.45 years. The mean number of sexual partners (of both sex) at the time of the study was 18. Fifty percent identified as gay, 35% as bisexual, and 15% as homosexual. Some of the MSM who identified as gay or homosexual had sex with females as well. Seventy percent of the MSM consistently used condoms in the past six months prior to the study. However, 30% did not use condoms consistently. The reasons for non-condom use fell under three main themes: partners ejaculate quicker; availability of antiretroviral drugs, and intense urge prior to anal sex did not allow time for condom use.

This paper focuses at the critical appraisal of interventions to address HIV vulnerabilities among cross border migrants and their spouses by analyzing relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the intervention. The analysis consists of a critical appraisal of regionalization in programming and project strategy to address those at risk of HIV/AIDS at source, transit and destination. The basic data have been collected using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, where the key issues and challenges in addressing HIV/AIDS vulnerabilities among cross boarder migrants are based on a total of 132 FGDs/ interviews conducted across source, transit and destination.
Most of the programs and services for reducing HIV/AIDS vulnerability focus at raising awareness, capacity building, improving use of health care services by developing a range of support structures, and creating an enabling environment for behaviour change. However, cross border referrals and continuum of services need to be strengthen by promoting synergy in planning of programmes and services across borders. Need to advocate for user-friendly health services by sensitizing the host community. Strengthening network of PLHIV and ART centres at source and destination in order to minimise defaulters in treatment regimen and other services to

Purpose: To investigate how current promotional materials on MMC are being understood by rural adolescent boys in Makonde district.
Methods: 138 adolescents between 12 and 19 years of age will be selected from households in the target location. Data will be collected using a questionnaire with both open and closed items through an interview. In addition to individual interviews, in-depth interviews will also be conducted with key informants to be drawn from the Ministry of Health, Population Services International (PSI), the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council and the National AIDS Council. Qualitative data on conceptualisations of the current discourse on male circumcision and HIV prevention will be collected from 3 focussed group discussions. Data analysis will be done using SPSS for quantitative data and NVivo for qualitative data. The actual analysis will involve descriptive statistics to determine the prevalence of MC and qualitative content analysis for data gathered from FGDs.
Expected Results: Prevalence of male circumcision (both traditional and medical) is expected to be low, and so is the knowledge about the procedure. Attitudes about MMC are expected to be generally positive. Findings of this study are expected to be used to evaluate the current advertisements on MMC for HIV prevention.

In many developing countries, adolescents’ reproductive health has given a significant attention and emphasized the lack of knowledge causes to experience higher risks of vulnerabilities. Gender is vital in determining quality of reproductive health especially accessing health education and services. We examine the gender differentials of knowledge and attitude towards reproductive health using data from 110 secondary school children in colombo district. The findings reveal that female students had better awareness on reproductive health education than their male counterparts. Furthermore, it revealed that friends and peers were more influential sources of obtaining reproductive health information than school teachers and parents irrespective of their gender and sector where they live. Attitudes on pre-marital sex show that urban students tend to favour premarital sexual relationships as a source of gaining experience irrespective of gender. Majority of students in all sectors had agreed that providing reproductive health knowledge is an essential and it need to be included as a subject in the school curriculum. These findings suggest that policies and programmes should be more focused on educating male students and also awareness programmes need to implement further for all students to address their issues.

Introduction: Project ORCHID initiated HIV prevention program in high prevalence districts of Manipur and Nagaland in March 2004. The overall goal of the Project is to reduce transmission of HIV and STIs among IDUs, SWs, MSM and their sexual partners, through a sustained response of increased scale and 80% coverage in Manipur and Nagaland.
Methodology: The pilot project with female injecting drug users started in August 2011, with 150 female injecting drug users as the estimated population. Before this initiative female drug user were given same services in the same clinic and drop in centre which is used for male drug user.
Result: Till August 2011, there was a single drop in center and STI clinic for both male and female injectors. The registration of FIDU increased by 76% from August 2010 to July-2012. The outreach has increased from 52% to 96% during the same period. The STI related visit was more than double during the same period i.e., from 22.7% to 48.7%. Condom distribution per FIDU per month has increased from 26 to 76. Needle and Syringe distribution has increased from 7 to 98 during the same period.
Conclusion: The male and female IDU,s should not given services in the same place and thee should be separate provision for services for FIDU.

Background:
In 2008, the HIV prevalence among IDUs in Manipur was 28.65% as per National HIV Sentinel Surveillance data. Project ORCHID is a 10-year (2004-14) Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded project under the Avahan initiative that provides HIV prevention in seven districts of Manipur and Nagaland in Northeast India.
Methodology:
The objective of the survey was to evaluate risk behaviours among the IDU communities served by Project ORCHID in Manipur.
The samples are calculated on the basis of active registered KP till the month of September 2011 at 15% margin of error (for 95% CI) and 1.5% design effect. The sites for conducting PBS are randomly selected using random table in excel sheet.
Results:
In Manipur, 81.8% IDU had injected in the previous week. The mean injecting frequency among them was 13 per IDU per person. The percentage of injecting episodes using new needle and syringe 71.5.
Only about 45% reported always using condom with non-regular partner in previous month. This put them in double risk of transmission of HIV i.e., from injecting as well as unsafe sex.
Conclusion:
Higher rates of risky injecting and sexual behaviour were found in Manipur among IDUs, which together with the much higher HIV prevalence of 28.65% underlines the need for continued behaviour change communication.

Using hierarchical linear models, we identify both individual and teacher/school level factors that affect voluntary HIV testing among young people attending secondary schools in Kenya. Separate models are built for males and females. Results indicate that young Kenyans, both males and females, are more likely to test for their HIV serostatus when they have specific knowledge related to VCT, are involved in HIV/AIDS activities from primary school, have HIV information available in their respective secondary schools, perceive themselves at high risk of contracting HIV, know whether someone is infected or has died of HIV/AIDS and have ever engaged in sexual intercourse. On the other hand, indicating that they are afraid to go to a VCT centre, and cannot go to a VCT centre because people will think they are HIV positive are barriers to testing among the young secondary school students. Teacher/school level characteristics are relevant in explaining HIV testing, especially among female students. Female students with teachers who incorporate HIV information into their academic curriculum are more likely to test for HIV.

Like other parts of the Arab World, the incidence and prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPts) is low by global standards. During the period between 1988 and 2011, for example, there have only been 72 recorded cases in total , the majority of which are males.

However, despite this relatively low number, a substantial amount of money has made its way into the oPts with the aim of supporting preventive measures related to HIV/AIDS. These efforts have included public health awareness campaigns through various media outlets, as well as outreach and educational activities.

Nonetheless, despite significant educational and outreach efforts, an analysis of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics 2010 Palestinian Family Health Survey (PFHS) points to significant variation in sources of information on AIDS, especially between males and females. This paper will discuss the findings of the PFHS in relation to how HIV/AIDS information is solicited through different outlets between both groups. It also raises questions as to the accuracy of the information provided to each group and why certain information is more accessible to males, females or both. Furthermore, it will argue for more targeted outreach programs among youth in particular.

The purpose of this article was to investigate achievements made with regard to sexual behaviour change among young people, particularly reductions in multiple sexual partnerships, non-condom use, and other risky sexual behaviours

The data used in this paper were derived from the Botswana AIDS Impact Surveys (BAIS) which were carried out to provide information on the topics related to HIV/AIDS. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Standardization procedure was used to observe changes in the selected sexual behaviours.

The results showed that there were declines in percentage of young people aged 15-24 who reported ever having sex; the percentage of young people who have had sexual intercourse before the age of 15; and the percentage of young people who reported the use of condoms at their last sexual intercourse. However on the downside, there were no achievements in the area of multiple sexual partnerships and the percentage of young people who have had sex with a non-marital, non-cohabiting sexual partner in the last 12 months.

It is apparent that although there are signs of positive changes achieved through the implementation of behaviour change interventions, there are still areas where efforts need to be intensified to achieve the desired results.

Adolescents and young people in Zimbabwe, like in most sub-Saharan Africa, are at high risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Despite efforts by government and pressure groups in Zimbabwe regarding this issue, evidence on the ground shows that the greatest number of victims of the infections are adolescents, youths and women. This paper explores and explains the factors hindering the reduction of vulnerability of adolescents and young people in Harare, Zimbabwe. Much of the data was drawn using a desktop study. However, in-depth interviews with officials from government and selected pressure groups have been used to complement the desktop findings. It is noted that the reduction of vulnerability of adolescents and young people does not only call for behaviour change, as most pressure groups are advocating for, but for cultural and religious transformation in how sex and sexuality is viewed. Unless the cultural and religious belief systems are encouraged to understand the need to discuss sex and sexuality openly without stigma then will we realize reduction in adolescent and young people vulnerability to HIV and S.T.Is.