Population Council Programs Offer Evidence-Based Approaches to Protecting Adolescent Girls at Risk of HIV

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Despite decades of investment in HIV prevention, adolescent girls remain underserved and at disproportionate risk of HIV infection. UNAIDS reports that in 2010, 26 percent of new HIV infections worldwide occurred in girls aged 15 to 24, and that the number of girls aged 10 to 14 living with HIV had increased six-fold-to 300,000--between 1999 and 2010.

There is an urgent need to restructure HIV investments and develop evidence-based approaches for protecting the large populations of adolescent girls who remain at risk of HIV infection. Population Council senior policy analyst Judith Bruce, Council consultant Miriam Temin, and Council researcher Kelly Hallman recently outlined the steps needed to reduce girls' risk of acquiring HIV. They recommend three key strategies: mining available data to find girls at risk of HIV, reframing investments to respond to girls' needs, and developing infrastructure to support girls. The Population Council is designing and assessing programs that demonstrate the feasibility of putting girls first.

Use available data to identify girls at exceptional HIV risk

Many policymakers do not realize that existing data can help them identify communities with large populations of adolescent girls at high risk of exploitation, human rights abuses, …