Adolescents living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa: An implementation science research agenda Julie Denison Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Project SOAR AIDS 2016, Satellite Session “Listen Up! What Youth Living with HIV Need to Achieve 90-90-90” Durban South Africa, July 18-22, 2016.

COLLECTIVE COMMITMENT COLLECTIVE ACTION USAID/Project SOAR held a 2-day meeting with experts on Adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (Feb 2016): Youth living with HIV, researchers, policy makers, and program implementers US government and international agencies, NGO’s and Universities

PURPOSE OF THE EXPERT MEETING 1) Examine what we know, 2) identify what we need to know (priority research questions) about ALHIV in SSA and the HIV care continuum HIV testing/linkages to care (ART initiation) Retention in care ART adherence and viral suppression Transition to self-management/adult care

MEETING RESULTS

MEETING RESULTS – Literature Review Little published evidence on interventions to support 10-19 year olds living with HIV in SSA (n=7 published studies). Retention Adherence Transition # of published articles 3 4

EXAMPLE TOOLS AND INFORMATION Caregiver companion manual forthcoming

MEETING RESULTS – Research Agenda EXAMPLE RESEARCH QUESTIONS What are the effects and costs of a stigma reduction intervention on uptake of HIV testing and linkage to care among adolescents? Can providers’ enhanced capacity to deliver adolescent services improve retention? How can we best identify adolescents in need of adherence interventions before treatment failure occurs? What are the key predictors of a successful transition for adolescents who are in HIV care?

CHALLENGES – for your INPUT Today!! Stigma Key populations Youth engagement

Thank you USAID – including the Project SOAR Management Team, Technical Advisors and other colleagues who contributed to the conceptualization of the meeting Project SOAR partner representatives from UNC, EGPAF, Palladium, Hopkins and Avenir Population Council Staff: Ellen Weiss for her technical writing and editing skills, Sherry Hutchinson and Sean Compas for organizing the meeting