Publications by authors named "Hilary T Wolf"
Article Synopsis
- Children under 5 years, especially those with HIV not on antiretroviral treatment, face significantly higher mortality rates compared to older age groups, despite receiving ART.
- From October 2020 to September 2022, annual death rates among infants aged <1 year and children aged 1-4 years on ART were 4.9% and 2.5%, respectively, which are notably higher than those for individuals aged 5 and older.
- Improving access to and quality of HIV health services for young children, in line with WHO recommendations, is essential for addressing the poor health outcomes they currently face.
During 2020, an estimated 150,000 persons aged 0-14 years acquired HIV globally (1). Case identification is the first step to ensure children living with HIV are linked to life-saving treatment, achieve viral suppression, and live long, healthy lives. Successful interventions to optimize pediatric HIV testing during the COVID-19 pandemic are needed to sustain progress toward achieving Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 95-95-95 targets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted global health service delivery, including provision of HIV services. Countries with high HIV burden are balancing the need to minimize interactions with health facilities to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, while delivering uninterrupted essential HIV prevention, testing and treatment services. Many of these adaptations in resource-constrained settings have not adequately accounted for the needs of pregnant and breastfeeding women, infants, children and adolescents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHIV is the leading cause of mortality for youth in sub-Saharan Africa. Youth are more likely than any other age group to be lost to follow-up (LTFU) from care. We investigated the health care-related experiences of youth living with HIV (YLWH) who were LTFU (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNew HIV infections among adolescents continues to be a large public health burden in sub-Saharan Africa, with few adolescents accessing HIV testing and counseling (HTC) services. We evaluated the effect of a peer referral program among adolescents in Kisumu county, Kenya in accessing HTC. Female adolescents aged 15 to 19 years were recruited from three health clinics in Kisumu County.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: HIV is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among youth in sub Saharan Africa. This study explores the adaptation of an adult social network intervention for adolescents, entitled Kanyakla.
Methods: The study was conducted in Kisumu, Kenya from July to November 2016.
Ugandan adolescents lack sufficient reproductive health knowledge, which accounts in part for the staggering rates of teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted (STI) infections in this population. This study aimed to (1) examine Ugandan adolescents' baseline STI and contraceptive knowledge; (2) determine whether this knowledge varies by demographic factors, prior sexual experience or school grade; and (3) evaluate the effectiveness of an educational program to increase and retain STI and contraceptive knowledge among Ugandan adolescents. This study surveyed 129 adolescents (ages 15-19) regarding knowledge of STIs and contraceptive methods at schools and community non-governmental organizations at three time points.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Youth represent 40% of all new HIV infections in the world, 80% of which live in sub-Saharan Africa. Youth living with HIV (YLWH) are more likely to become lost to follow-up (LTFU) from care compared to all other age groups. This study explored the reasons for LTFU among YLWH in Kenya.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Adolescents' decisions to have sex may be based on a priori boundaries placed on sex. This study addresses: (1) to what extent adolescents set vaginal sexual boundaries; (2) the types of sexual boundaries most and least likely to be endorsed; and (3) to what extent sexual boundaries vary by sex, race/ethnicity, and sexual experience.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of 518 students attending 10th grade.