Originally published in 1997, Aids and Adolescents provided an insight into a wide range of adolescent issues which were rarely compiled in one volume at the time. Much of the HIV epidemic response had been at the individual level in the hope that this narrow focus would provide the key to containment and resolution of spread. However, over the ten years since the epidemic had taken hold, it was clear that paradigms were limited, input was uncritical and large cohorts were overlooked. In this text a series of contributions have been compiled to explore adolescent issues ranging from sexual behaviour and health education campaigns to HIV prevention and HIV/AIDS care. The chapters begin by giving an overview of adolescent problems, such as homelessness, pregnancy and gender, and explore why these problems are so often overlooked. We then move on to an examination of the facts and fictions associated with adolescent risk, challenging some of the basic current notions underpinning approaches to the subject at the time. Also included are particular focused studies of Australian adolescents’ beliefs about HIV and STDs and also the American adolescents’ perceptions of drug injection. Finally, the volume gives a focused view of those with HIV infection, with a review of findings of the time, neuropsychological and psychological factors. This overview provided some comments on merging issues and future directions. Today it can be read in its historical context.

Young people are particularly vulnerable to HIV: 15 24 year olds account for 50% of new cases. Five to six thousand youths become infected every day, most of them in developing countries. The UN General Assembly Special Session on AIDS in June 2001 set a number of goals to drive efforts to reduce prevalence in this age group. This report provides evidence-based recommendations for policy-makers, program managers and researchers to guide efforts towards meeting the UN goals on HIV/AIDS and young people. These goals aim to decrease prevalence and vulnerability; and to increase access to information, skills and services. This report provides a systematic review the effectiveness of interventions provided: through schools, health services, mass media, communities, and to young people who are most vulnerable to HIV infection.

This book provides an overview of the current epidemiology of the HIV epidemic among young people in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) and examines the efforts to confront and reduce the high level of new HIV infections amongst young people. Taking a multi-dimensional approach to prevention, the contributors discuss the many challenges facing these efforts, in view of the slow progress in curbing the incidence of HIV amongst young people, focusing particularly on the structural and social drivers of HIV. Through an examination of these issues, chapters in this book provide valuable insights on how to mitigate HIV risk among young people and what can be regarded as the catalysts to mounting credible policy and programmatic responses required to achieve epidemic control in the region. The contributors draw on examples from a range of primary and secondary data sources to illustrate promising practices and challenges in HIV prevention, demonstrating links between conceptual approaches to prevention and lessons learnt from implementation projects in the region. Bringing together social scientists and public health experts who are actively engaged in finding effective solutions, the book discusses ‘which interventions works’, ‘why they work’, and the limitations and gaps in our knowledge to curb the pandemic amongst young people. As such it is an important read for researchers focusing on HIV/AIDS and public health. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/10.4324/9780429462818 has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Today, around the world, there are 5 million young men and women living with HIV. Opportunity in Crisis: Preventing HIV from early adolescence to young adulthood examines the state of the HIV epidemic among young people, highlighting the challenges they face and presenting solutions informed by evidence of what works with different age groups and in different epidemic settings. The report outlines key steps towards building a continuum of HIV prevention that can help keep children HIV-free as they develop into young adults.