We must listen to adolescent mothers living with HIV

THIS World Aids Day (December 1) comes towards the end of a remarkably challenging year for addressing the HIV epidemic.

- CHRISTINA LAURENZI CHUMA BUSAKHWE

Years-long momentum, built by a global community of clinicians, researchers, policymakers, advocates and activists working to end HIV/Aids, has been halted by the sobering reality of millions in funding cuts. Progress in eliminating HIV has once again become precarious and uncertain.

In South Africa, adolescent girls and young women are often part of the conversation around HIV. New HIV infections are far higher among adolescents than they should be, and adolescent girls are six times likelier to acquire HIV than boys in the same age group. Years of data from South Africa and other high-burden countries show that adolescents struggle more than adults to connect to and stay engaged in HIV care. Importantly, this group have been consistently included in groundbreaking studies to test new advances in care, such as injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis, which promises to transform how HIV can be prevented, and eventually eliminated.

In reality, though, the voices of adolescent girls, especially those under the age of 18, are often missing from data and programmes. All adolescents navigate questions of identity, peer relationships, and family roles in moving from childhood to adulthood. For so many girls in South Africa, early exposures to violence and gender inequitable norms make this transition more complex and increase the risk of HIV. Alongside critical data from clinical trials and technological breakthroughs, highlighting the stories of adolescent girls is essential to truly understanding what it will take to eliminate HIV.