Silinda, PatriciaYah, Clarence S.Musekiwa, Alfred2026-01-292026-01-292026Patricia Silinda , Clarence Yah & Alfred Musekiwa (2026) Progress toward the second and third UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets among adolescents and young adults in the Ekurhuleni district, South Africa, AIDS Care, 38:1, 61-71, DOI: 10.1080/09540121.2025.2564196.0954-0121 (print)1360-0451 (online)10.1080/09540121.2025.2564196http://hdl.handle.net/2263/107694DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The data that support the findings of this study are available from the Ekurhuleni district Health Management Information Systems (HMIS). Restrictions apply to the availability of this data and require relevant channels, as enacted by HMIS. The first author can be contacted to assist with the contact details of the head of HMISWe investigated the progress towards the second and third 95-95-95 UNAIDS targets among adolescents and young adults (AYA) living with HIV in the Ekurhuleni district, South Africa. A total of 39,038 AYA were tested for HIV in 2018, 17.0% (95% CI: 16.6%-17.4%) tested positive, 79.5% (95% CI: 78.5%-80.5%) were aged 20-24, and the majority were females 86.8% (95% CI: 86.0%-87.6%) and of these females 33.8% (95%CI: 32.6%-35.1%) were pregnant. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation rate was 81.9%(95% CI: 81.0%-82.9%) and 63% were initiated on the same day. Viral load suppression had an upward trajectory of 63%, 66%, 71%, 73%, 81%, while retention rate regressed from 67%, 63%, 62%, 60%, 56% over 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months. Compared to males, females achieved greater proportions while when comparing the three-agebands, AYA aged 20-24 achieved better outcomes than AYA aged 10-14 and 15-19.These findings underscore the importance of interventions focused on targeted testing and diagnosis, linkage to treatment, retention to care and viral load suppression of younger adolescents (10-14 years) and male AYA and implementation of age and gender disaggregated HIV cascade indicators tracking for this subpopulation.en© 2025 The Author(s). This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.Antiretroviral therapy (ART)HIV diagnosisViral load suppressionHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV)Article