Review of the India Adolescent Health Strategy in the context of disease burden among adolescents.

Background: A nuanced understanding of the health needs of adolescents in the context of the India Adolescent Health Strategy (IAHS) is needed to inform policy interventions for improving the health and well-being of adolescents in India.

Methods: Using data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019, we identified the top ten causes of years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) disaggregated by sex and age group (10-14 and 15-19 years) for India and its states in 2019. To inform the IAHS of refinement or expansion in focus needed to improve adolescent health in India, we reviewed the extent to which the top 10 causes of disease burden are addressed in the IAHS, and the availability of and age- and sex-disaggregation in the service utilisation data for adolescents captured in the Adolescent Friendly Health Clinic monitoring information system (AFHC MIS) and Health Management Information System (HMIS). We also reviewed the availability of and age-and sex-disaggregation in the data capture at the population level for the IAHS outcome indicators in the data sources identified in the IAHS operational framework.

Findings: Females in the 10-14 and 15-19 years age groups suffered 6.75 million and 9.25 million DALYs, respectively, 39.1% and 44.2% of which were YLLs; the corresponding DALYs for males were 6.71 million and 9.65 million (42.3% and 41.1% YLLs), respectively. Within the 6 thematic areas of the IAHS, most strategies and indicators identified are for sexual and reproductive health followed by nutrition, and broadly these conditions accounted for YLDs and not YLLs in adolescents. Significant gaps in the IAHS in comparison to the disease burden for fatal diseases and conditions were seen across injuries, communicable diseases, and non-communicable diseases. Injuries accounted for 65.9% and 45.3% of YLLs in males and females aged 15-19 years, and 40.8% in males aged 10-14 years. Specifically, road injuries (15.3%, 95% UI 11.0-18.0) and self-harm (11.3%, 95% UI 8.7-14.2) accounted for most of the injury deaths in 15-19 years whereas drowning (7.7% 95% UI 5.8-9.6) and road injuries (6.9%, 95% UI 4.7-8.6) accounted for the most injury deaths in 10-14 years males. However, only self-harm and gender-based violence are specifically addressed in the IAHS with non-specific interventions for other injuries. Diarrhoea, lower respiratory infections, malaria, encephalitis, tuberculosis, typhoid, cirrhosis, and hepatitis are the other disease conditions accounting for YLLs and DALYs in adolescents but these are neither addressed in the IAHS nor in service provision under the AFHC MIS. There is no age- or sex-disaggregation in the cause of death data captured in the HMIS to allow an understanding of mortality in adolescents. For the IAHS outcome indicators at the population level, data capture for the 10-14 years irrespective of sex was largely missing from the population surveys and none of the surveys captured data for either females or males aged 15-19 years for physical inactivity and mental health indicators.

Interpretation: The considerable differences seen in the IAHS thematic focus as compared with the leading causes of fatal and non-fatal disease burden in adolescents in India, and in the availability of population-level data to monitor the outcome indicators of the IAHS can pose substantial limitations for improving adolescent health in India. The findings in this paper can be utilized by decision makers to refine action aimed at improving adolescent health and well-being.

Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.