Past and current status of adolescents living with HIV in South Africa, 2005-2017

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Authors

Inbarani, Naidoo
Sinovuyo, Takatshana
Ronel, Sewpaul
Sean, Jooste
Zhou, Siyanai
Goitseone, Maseko
Sizulu, Moyo
Khangelani, Zuma
Musawenkosi, Mabaso
Zungu, Nompumelelo Precious

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

BMC

Abstract

OBJECTIVES : This paper reports HIV prevalence, incidence, progress towards the UNAIDS (90-90-90) targets, and HIV drug resistance among adolescents living with HIV in South Africa. We conducted secondary analyses using data extracted from the South African national HIV prevalence surveys (2005-2017). Analyses were stratified by sex and age (10-14 and 15-19-years), presenting weighted descriptive statistics, and realised totals. RESULTS : HIV prevalence increased from 3.0% in 2012 to 3.7% in 2017, translating to 360 582 (95% CI 302 021-419 144) HIV positive adolescents in 2017. Female adolescents bear a disproportionate HIV burden of 5.6% prevalence versus 0.7% for males. HIV incidence remained relatively stable. For the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets, approximately 62.3% of adolescents knew their HIV status, 65.4% of whom were on antiretroviral therapy, and of these 78.1% on antiretroviral therapy had attained viral load suppression. There are knowledge gaps pertaining to the magnitude of perinatal infections and postnatal infections, and socio-behavioural risk factors for HIV transmission among adolescents in South Africa. There is still a need for focussed interventions targeting adolescent (1) gender disparities in HIV risk (2) screening for HIV, (3) sustained access and adherence to antiretroviral therapy and (3) retention in care to maintain viral load suppression.

Description

Keywords

Adolescents, Gender, Perinatal, UNAIDS (90-90-90) targets, Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), South Africa (SA)

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Inbarani, N., Sinovuyo, T., Ronel, S., Sean, J., Zhou, S., Goitseone, M., Sizulu, M., Khangelani, Z., Musawenkosi, M. & Zungu, N. Past and current status of adolescents living with HIV in South Africa, 2005-2017. BMC Research Notes 2022 Apr 9;15(1):132. doi: 10.1186/s13104-022-06006-2.