Supporting adolescents living with HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa survive and thrive

University of Cape Town

Eastern and Southern African countries are home to nearly 1.5 million adolescents and young people living with HIV. As this cohort of adolescents and young people transitioned from childhood to young adulthood, our research – spearheaded by the Mzantsi Wakho cohort study – contributed to several key areas: (i) understanding of the unique needs of adolescents and young people living with HIV, (ii) social and economic support to improve multi-domain well-being for adolescents living with HIV, contributing to WHO and UNICEF technical briefs, (iii) adolescent mothers living with HIV, and (iv) adolescent and youth friendly services. The evidence from this research has directly contributed to international and regional guidance by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, training and skillbuilding for over 2,000 peer and clinic-based healthcare providers via the network of Paediatric Adolescent Treatment for Africa in 12 countries, and programming supported by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation in Lesotho and Kenya. The Mzantsi Wakho study – and the lead researchers (Prof Lucie Cluver, A/Prof Rebecca Hodes, A/Prof Elona Toska) was awarded UCT’s Social Responsiveness Award in 2019. Underpinning academic work: (Either research or teaching. Conducted by which Department or Unit?) Nearly 50 peer-reviewed publications by the research team have contributed to each thematic area. The publications report on findings from longitudinal analyses of over 5,000 interviews between 2013-2018 among adolescents and young people living with HIV in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Qualitative participatory research with teen advisory groups in the Eastern and Western Cape informed the study design, but also highlighted how adolescents and young people navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. • Understanding unique needs of adolescents and young people living with HIV, shed light on their reproductive aspirations (Toska et al 2019), mental health needs (Cluver et al 2023), disclosure of HIV status (Toska et al. 2015), schooling (Toska et al 2017), and ART outcomes (Cluver et al 2016, Zhou et al 2022 & 2023). • Adolescent mothers living with HIV. As adolescents in the Mzantsi Wakho cohort were transitioning to young adulthood, a growing proportion became parents. The rich data from the multiple wave study provided first-time insights on the lives of young mothers living with HIV (Toska et al 2020, Toska et al 2022, Laurenzi et al 2023, etc), contributing to an advocacy movement, including work by the Coalition for Children Affected by HIV/AIDS and UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Region).