The Office of Adolescent Health (OAH), with funding from the Secretary’s Minority AIDS Initiative Fund, supports the National Resource Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention among Adolescents (Center). The Center operates under a competitively-awarded cooperative agreement with the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center, School of Nursing, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). UMDNJ has partnered with the University of California - San Francisco’s Center for HIV Information and the National Network of STD/HIV Prevention Training Centers, experts in the field of HIV/AIDS care and prevention, to extend the Center’s reach.
Launched on June 25, 2012, the Center supports adolescent service providers (i.e. an organization that works with teens or an individual, such as a community health education specialist or a clinician) by providing web-based resources, evidence-based program information, and links to training and technical assistance to help prevent HIV/AIDS among adolescents, in particular adolescents from minority and high-risk populations.
The rate of HIV diagnoses from 2006 to 2009 increased in youth ages 15-24 years of age and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than half of all undiagnosed HIV infections are in youth age 13-24 years. The National HIV/AIDS Strategy calls for promoting age-appropriate HIV and STI infection prevention education for all Americans and affirms that “educating young people about HIV before they begin engaging in behaviors that place them at risk for HIV infection should be a priority.” The National HIV/AIDS Strategy also acknowledges roles for both parents and schools in providing this education. The Center will answer this call by providing a mechanism to support the promotion and dissemination of adolescent HIV/AIDS prevention resources in an effort to increase adolescent service provider’s capacity and support the national effort to prevent HIV infection among adolescents.
We encourage you to visit the Center’s website, which features the following:
- A calendar with a list of HIV-prevention, and related events nationwide.
- “What’s New” - providing readers with current research and information related to adolescent HIV prevention.
- “What Works” - including a database directory of evidence-based adolescent HIV prevention interventions and implementation and adaptation information.
- Online “discussion rooms” where visitors can share success stories and challenges related to HIV prevention among adolescents.
- Resources where visitors can access a compilation of useful websites and tools related to HIV prevention and adolescents.
- Technical assistance, giving visitors the opportunity to request technical assistance on navigating the website, technical consultation on implementing and adapting evidence-based interventions, and guidance on connecting with other professionals or agencies to provide additional information.
Visit the National Resource Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention among Adolescents now!
Press release: HHS awards $200,000 to establish the National Resource Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention among Adolescents (12/01/2011)
