Who are the male sexual partners of adolescent girls and young women? Comparative analysis of population data in three settings prior to DREAMS roll-out

BackgroundThe DREAMS (Determined Resilient Empowered AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe) Partnership aims to reduce HIV incidence among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW,15-24y) with a core package of evidence-based interventions. Some interventions, including voluntary HIV counselling and testing and circumcision, will be targeted at the male sexual partners of AGYW. A priority of DREAMS is to characterise the male partners for effective targeting.MethodsUsing population-based data (2010–2015) in three DREAMS impact evaluation settings in Kenya and South Africa, we describe the demographic characteristics and sexual behaviour of male partners reported by AGYW, and the characteristics of males who report sexual activity with AGYW.ResultsIn all settings, over 90% of recent male partners reported by AGYW were aged ConclusionsWith almost all AGYW’s sexual partners aged 15–34 years, this is an appropriate target group for DREAMS interventions. Encouraging young men to reduce their number of partners and concurrency, and uptake prevention and treatment services such as HIV testing, circumcision and ART is crucial in the effort to reduce HIV among both AGYW and young men.