Harnessing Resilience: An exploration into individual and contextual factors that facilitate uptake of sexual and reproductive health services (SRHS) and HIV testing amongst South African youth

Abstract

Youth is generally defined as young people between the ages of 14- 24 years, however, in South Africa the age range is extended to 34 years. In 2020, the estimated youth population (14-35 years) in South Africa was 20.1 million, with just over 5 million being between the ages of 15- 19 years. In 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) described South Africa as experiencing a ‘youth health crisis’, reflective of a syndemic disease burden caused by early childbearing, poor nutrition, high HIV incidence, sexual risk behavior, substance abuse, violence, and injuries.