Understanding the extent to which adolescents aged 10–19 years who are living with HIV are retained in HIV care, treatment, and support is important for informing the design of effective services for this population to better meet their needs across three main areas of HIV and AIDS programming: treatment; care and support; and prevention. Retention in HIV programs is, in turn, important for positive clinical outcomes including viral suppression and survival. In 2013–2014, The AIDS Support Organization and the Population Council undertook a study to generate evidence on factors associated with retention of adolescents in HIV and AIDS programs in Uganda. The study was conducted under the USAID HIVCore project led by the Council, and responded to WHO and UNFPA guidelines on care, treatment, and support for women living with HIV and AIDS and their children in resource-constrained settings that emphasize ensuring availability of age-appropriate information and counseling on SRH and safer sexual practices, and offering adolescent-friendly family planning counseling and services. The goal was to generate evidence on the level of, and factors associated with, retention of HIV-positive adolescents in HIV and AIDS programs in Uganda
