Republic of South Africa Department of Health Country Resources Child and Youth General Health Policies, Laws, Strategies & Plans, Service Standards South Africa 1 January 2017 Policy document

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This Adolescent and Youth Health Policy aims to promote the health and wellbeing of young people, aged 10-24 years. Over the past two decades in South Africa, we have focused on equitable distribution of health resources and the expansion of service delivery. This has transformed the public health service. In adolescent and youth health, evidence from research has improved our understanding of needs and responses, and programmatic innovation has expanded healthcare provision and awareness. Despite this progress, adolescents and youth still face risks. Persistent high rates of HIV transmission (particularly among young, black women), tuberculosis, unintended and unsupported pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and substance abuse are major challenges for adolescents and youth, and for the health sector that services their needs.
The Department of Health strives towards a pro-active, preventative focus on health promotion and management. There is a growing recognition of the behavioural and structural causes of health and disease, and a concomitant commitment to designing programmes that are responsive to the social and structural determinants of health. But there are vast opportunities for increasing the effectiveness of adolescent health programme, and for taking programmes to scale nationally. This Adolescent and Youth Health Policy (AYHP) will aid the Department of Health, together with principal partners in government, to change national conceptions of effective health promotion among adolescents and youth in South Africa, and further to design and implement health programmes and services that enhance health and wellbeing among youth

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