Rethinking School-Based HIV/AIDS Interventions In South Africa

Changing behaviour, even that of adolescents who are just beginning to experience and experiment with their sexuality is perhaps the biggest challenge facing HIV/AIDS prevention. In South Africa, youth aged 15-24 years have the highest rates of HIV transmission, and preventive behaviour such as condom use is lax amongst this age group. Increased prevention efforts are required for adolescents and youth, but also efforts to promote health and healthy lifestyle choices within supportive environments. The majority of South African youth attend school, making it an ideal setting in which many HIV/AIDS interventions have been implemented. In keeping with international developments, South African schools are transforming to become health promoting settings. This paper looks at how HIV/AIDS interventions can benefit from the development of the health promoting schools approach. It examines the strategies through which health promotion can be translated into action for HIV prevention and health promotion for South African adolescents. Southern African Jnl Child and Adolescent Mental Health Vol.13(1) 2001:55-6