Abstract Body

Youth are essential to achieving bold visions put forward by the global health community for HIV: ‘Fast-track: Ending the AIDS Epidemic by 2030’, ‘Delivering on the Promise of an AIDS-free Generation’, and aspiring to ‘super fast-track’ a lifecycle of wellness with ‘Start Free, Stay Free, AIDS Free’ by 2020. Yet even with great gains and more tools in fighting HIV than ever before, shifting demographic patterns add complexity to interrupting HIV transmission and PREVENTING a next epidemic among youth. Successes in global health and child survival, particularly marked in sub-saharan Africa, are paying a ‘demographic dividend’ of the largest population in history of young people aged 12-24, expected to continue to grow through 2035. This session will examine factors critical to understanding HIV risk and response, including: shifting demographics of age and urbanization; fertility patterns and life-cycle windows of risk; HIV incidence by age and gender; contexts of multiple vulnerabilities including violence against children; targeting of age bands and timelines to HIV impact. Given promising structural, behavioral, and biomedical interventions-how do we design and deliver services that ‘fit’ young people for greatest public health impact? This includes reaching youth in periods of risk and reducing contexts of risk; generating demand for services; empowering youth innovation and leadership. Country profiles and possibilities vary, and it will require understanding local evidence, agility in response, and multi-sectoral leadership to achieve dynamic and effective youth-focused HIV responses.