Safeguarding the future: giving priority to the needs of adolescent and young mothers living with HIV

Overview

In 2019, WHO and Coalition for Children Affected by AIDS convened a learning session of scientific and programmatic experts to consolidate the evidence on why HIV-affected adolescent mothers and their children are being left behind and to deliberate on the multiple-level changes needed to improve their outcomes. This technical brief follows on from that session and will be useful to HIV programme managers in health ministries and other adolescent- and youth-linked line ministries, especially those in in sub-Saharan Africa, in implementing, monitoring and evaluating adolescent and youth-responsive and -friendly health services for young mothers living with HIV.

This technical brief aims to inform and support global dialogue and accelerate action on prioritizing services and support for adolescent and young mothers living with HIV. It details core programmatic examples and key strategies actions from across sub Saharan Africa that demonstrate how governments, health facilities, social services, communities, families and adolescent and young mothers are working together to bridge the gap between adolescent and adult-focused HIV and maternal health services. The programme examples provided serve to highlight potential and ongoing learnings in countries.