Publications on Adolescents
Equality for Girls in Crisis: Adapting Child Marriage and Adolescent Girls’ Programming During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Resource | Publications,
To help tackle how COVID-19 is upending young people’s lives, briefs under “My life” cover comprehensive sexuality education, risk communication with those young people left behind and girls’ empowerment, particularly as it relates to child marriage.
 
 
HIV Strategic Information: Accelerating Progress on HIV Testing and Treatment for Children and Adolescents through Improved Strategic Information
Resource | Publications,

This policy brief highlights key elements of the 2020 WHO consolidated HIV strategic information guidelines pertinent to HIV testing and treatment for children. It is designed to support country strategic information teams to choose, collect and systematically analyse the strategic information needed to strengthen programme management and monitoring of testing and treatment for children and adolescents.

 
 
Package of Care for Children and Adolescents with Advanced HIV Disease: Stop AIDS
Resource | Publications,

The major causes of morbidity and mortality among children living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries are pneumonia (including Pneumocystis pneumonia), tuberculosis (TB), bloodstream infections, diarrhoeal disease and severe acute malnutrition. In addition, for adolescents living with HIV, adult-type opportunistic infections also occur, including cryptococcal meningitis. WHO published guidelines on the management of advanced HIV disease in 2017, promoting a package of interventions to prevent, identify and treat HIV-associated infections among people with advanced HIV disease.

 
 
Prioritizing the Continuity of Services for Adolescents Living with HIV during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Resource | Publications,
This information note is intended for use by policy makers, programme managers, and major funders of the health sector response to HIV, in contexts where COVID-19 poses a threat to service continuity for adolescents living with HIV, within national COVID-19 responses. The document succinctly summarizes what we know about COVID-19 risks in this vulnerable population, offers key considerations for safeguarding HIV treatment service continuity, and emphasizes sexual and reproductive health, mental health and psychosocial support as priority needs.
 
 
Improving HIV Service Delivery for Infants, Children and Adolescents: A Framework for Country Programming
Resource | Publications,
The framework was developed by a group of global experts who were convened by UNICEF in June 2019 to advance the collective thinking on pediatric HIV service delivery. The partnership’s analysis of current evidence and specific programme interventions that need to be scaled up to improve the quality of HIV treatment services and reach more infants, children and adolescents with these lifesaving medicines is presented here.
 
 
Adolescent Pregnancy - Evidence Brief
Resource | Publications,

In many societies, girls are under pressure to marry and bear children early. In low- and middle-income countries, over 30% of girls marry before they are 18 years of age; around 14% before the age of 15. Early marriage generally leads to early child bearing, in accordance with social norms.

In many places girls choose to become pregnant because they have limited educational and employment prospects and given that motherhood is valued, marriage/union and child bearing may be the best of the limited options they have.

 
 
Looking Out for Adolescents and Youth from Key Populations: Formative Assessment on the Needs of Adolescents and Youth at Risk of HIV: Case Studies from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam
Resource | Publications,

This formative assessment on the needs of adolescents and youth at risk presents the experiences of adolescents and young people including those from key populations and the perspectives of experts working with young people in the four domains: education, parental and peer support, communication and mental health – in relation to HIV risk and prevention, and broader sexual reproductive health rights, including perceived needs, access to and use of services, and barriers and opportunities for young people.

 
 
Adolescent-friendly Health Services for Adolescents Living with HIV: From Theory to Practice
Resource | Publications,
HIV services for adolescents living with HIV often have limited integration with other adolescent health services such as those for mental health, adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Many adolescents living with HIV therefore continue to receive services that do not meet the explicit principles for providing adolescent-friendly health services: equitable, acceptable, accessible, appropriate and effective. This publication primarily seeks to define and clarify the key elements of adolescent-friendly health services, summarize existing guidance on adolescent-friendly health services and differentiated service delivery for adolescents living with HIV while showcasing best-practice case studies based on country experience in implementing these services.
 
 
Gender Counts: South Asia
Resource | Publications,

Gender Counts, a new, first-of-its-kind review, utilizes quantitative data to provide a comprehensive profile of how gender inequality impacts girls and boys, in the low and middle-income countries in Asia-Pacific. This report focuses on South Asia. The reports describe the effects of gender inequality in the domains of health, education and transition to employment, protection and safe environment.

 
 
Gender Counts: East and Southeast Asia
Resource | Publications,

This review utilizes national-level quantitative data to provide a comprehensive profile of how gender inequality impacts girls and boys, in low and middle-income countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia. This report describes the effects of gender inequality in the domains of health, education and transition to employment, protection and safe environment.