ABSTRACT
HIV prevention initiatives among young women aged 15–24 have become a focal point because of the extraordinarily high incidence of HIV in this group, especially compared to their male counterparts. This gender gap is especially pronounced in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), where young women accounted for 26% of new HIV infections in 2016 despite comprising about 10% of the population. Although HIV prevalence peaks among men in sub-Saharan Africa at a much later age than it does among women, adolescent boys and young men (ABYM) are not at zero risk. Pronounced gender disparities occur across the HIV care continuum. ABYM, especially those who have sex with other boys or men, continue to be left behind in efforts to achieve the 90–90–90 goals. Engagement in HIV testing and HIV prevention programmes among adolescent males has lagged behind that of their female counterparts. Data are limited on the intersecting multi-level factors that increase or decrease HIV risk for ABYM and what works in HIV prevention for this population. For these reasons, ABYM have been described as the “forgotten fifty per cent.” In response to this gap, we conducted a focused review in ESA countries to identify the HIV prevention research findings among ABYM aged 10–24 and to address three issues: What factors create contexts of risk for HIV acquisition and promote or limit adoption of HIV prevention behaviours among ABYM in ESA? What types of evidence-based HIV prevention interventions have been conducted with ABYM in ESA and what are their results? What are key gaps in research on HIV prevention among ABYM in ESA?
