19 May 2017

Age-disparate sexual relationships are associated with new HIV infections among young women in Zimbabwe, particularly for young women with partners ten years older or more. The findings come from a 15-year study by Imperial College London, Zimbabwe’s Biomedical Research and Training Institute and the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Care, and is the first large scale study to track the association between intergenerational relationships and increased HIV risk before and after the introduction of antiretroviral treatment (ART) services in a country. More than 3,700 young women aged 15 to 24 years from Manicaland in eastern Zimbabwe were included in the study. In addition to increased HIV incidence, researchers found that young women’s risk of HIV did not change over the course of the study, despite the introduction of ART services during that time.

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