Comprehensive Health Services for Young Key Populations: Needs, Barriers, and Gaps

Abstract:

The purpose of this review was to identify the specific needs, barriers, and gaps in providing comprehensive health services for young key populations YKP. We conducted a literature search through PubMed and Google Scholar for articles that provided age-specific data on sexual reproductive health, mental health, violence, and substance use problems among adolescents, youth, sex workers, men who have sex with men, transger individuals, and people who inject drugs.

Methods:

Our search strategy included terms related to young key populations, age categories adolescents, youth, health topics sexual reproductive health, mental health, violence, substance use, and the specific populations of focus. We systematically reviewed articles that met these criteria for inclusion in this review.

Results:

YKP are at a high risk for HIV and experience increased rates of other health issues compared to older members of key populations and youth within the general population. These health disparities include unprotected sex, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, uninted pregnancies, violence, mental health disorders, and substance use problems.

Barriers that impede access to care for YKP are significant due to stigma and discrimination at both individual healthcare settings and policy levels. Stigma affects every stage of service provision from seeking services to post-treatment outcomes.

Discussion:

YKP require holistic, integrated services tlored to address their unique developmental needs alongside health requirements, including education, social support, within a rights-based framework. The WHO's Consolidated Guidelines on HIV Prevention, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Care for Key Populations are significant advancements towards comprehensive YKP programming; however, there is limited research on effectively delivering combined interventions targeting these populations.

To adequately provide and ensure coverage of services necessary for YKP health management, considerable investments in research and implementation strategies are essential. Enhancing harm reduction initiatives and rights-based approaches should also be a priority to overcome structural barriers impacting access to healthcare.

Concluding Thoughts:

This review highlights the critical need for an interdisciplinary approach that acknowledges and integrates diverse aspects such as healthcare provision, education systems, social welfare into effective YKP health service delivery. The emphasis must shift towards not only addressing HIV but also other health concerns pertinent to this demographic, considering their specific vulnerabilities at different stages of development.

Citations Impact:

While the current version outlines the mn findings based on a review conducted till February 2015, updated research and data would be required for an accurate impact analysis. Potential citations could include seminal studies defining YKP health disparities, reports highlighting barriers to healthcare access among these populations, as well as articles discussing rights-based approaches in key population health services.

Funding:

This manuscript acknowledges the Europe PMC Funders' Group's support alongside contributions from EMBL-EBI and the National Library of Medicine NLM. The manuscript also suggests that funding is necessary for future research initiatives med at addressing gaps identified in providing comprehensive health services to young key populations.
This article is reproduced from: https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2022.1604612/pdf

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