Study identifies serious gaps in treatment and care of HIV-positive adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa
www.aidsmap.com - "Healthcare providers in sub-Saharan Africa are struggling to provide services for HIV-positive adolescents, investigators report in the Journal of the International AIDS Society. Facilities in 23 countries, which collectively provide care to over 80,000 adolescents (defined as 10-19 years) participated in the study.
Four major service limitations or challenges were identified by the researchers:
- Mechanisms to support adherence and retention in care.
- Service gaps, especially transitioning from paediatric to adult care.
- Poor integration of sexual and reproductive health services.
- Insufficient disaggregation of health outcome monitoring data by age.
"This multi-country situational analysis provides key insights into the status of HIV treatment and care services for adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa," comment the authors." (Photo: UNMEER/flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0)