Young People Most at Risk of HIV

This paper is designed to call more attention to young people within the groups considered "most at risk" for HIV—those who sell sex, those who inject drugs, and young men who have sex with men. Despite the growing attention that has been given to programming for these groups, little explicit focus has emerged on the particular needs of young people in these populations. At the same time, efforts to prevent HIV among young people have tended to focus on the general population of young people, for whom more is known about effective programming.

Research has begun to show the importance of focusing on young people within most-at-risk populations, and there are increasing examples of programmatic approaches for meeting their needs.