loveLife is a youth focused HIV prevention initiative in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The overall aim of loveLife is to reduce the rate of new infections in young people, in order to reduce the overall prevalence of HIV in South Africa, which stands at 10.9% (2008)South African National HIV Prevalence, Incidence, Behaviour and Communication Survey, 2008: A Turning Tide Among Teenagers?
, , (page xvi) of the population. (Additional sources:

UNAIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) (, ONUSIDA) is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The mission of UNAIDS is to lead, strengthen and support an e ...

HSRC
see also

HIV/AIDS in South Africa HIV/AIDS is one of the most serious health concerns in South Africa. The country has the highest number of people afflicted with HIV of any country, and the fourth-highest adult HIV prevalence rate, according to the 2019 United Nations statis ...

) Considering that a high number of new infections are among 15- to 24-year-olds,A gauge of HIV prevention in South Africa 2009
, (p28-32) While loveLife's national office is situated in Johannesburg, there are provincial offices in each of South Africa's nine province plus more than 20 regional offices nationwide. loveLife's 18 Y-centres are set up in areas of high HIV prevalence.

Partners

loveLife was launched in late 1999 as a joint initiative of leading South African non-government organisations and the South African government, in partnership with several private foundations and private sector support. Amongst others the Henry J Kaiser family Foundation has been a lead funder and driver of the organisation. Primary funders in 2010 include the South African Department of Health, the Department of Social Development and Sports and Recreation South Africa. Additiona
funding and support
is provided by South Africa's corporate sector including Barloworld, Murray & Roberts,

Independent Newspapers Independent Newspapers Limited (INL) was a newspaper publisher in New Zealand. Started as the Wellington Publishing Company in 1906 to publish ''The Dominion'', it began taking over other newspapers in the 1970s and was renamed Independent New ...

, Rapport, the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF), the

South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state ...

, Ster-Kinekor, VW and Anglo American. Large donors such as DfiD, the Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation,

UNFPA The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies ...

and the

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was ...

have also supported loveLife. Since 2008, loveLife has received technical support from DED, the German Development Service (from 2011 on GIZ, Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit), with several advisors, volunteers and private public partnership funds

Results

In 2006, the World Health Organisation (

WHO Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book ''Horton Hear ...

) recognised loveLife as the only national programme in the world that did measure HIV prevalence.Preventing HIV/AIDS in young people
page 225, page 219. WHO found: "Strong evidence for improvements in participation in HIV testing, interpersonal communication about HIV and decreases in HIV infection rates." HIV prevalence has declined among children aged 2–14, from 5.6% in 2002 to 2.5% in 2008; and among youth aged 15–24 from 10.3% in 2005 to 8.6% in 2008 – indicating that HIV prevention campaigns and behaviour change programmes are making a dent in the epidemic. The survey also reveals that loveLife has high reach into the youth age ranges, with the organisation reaching 79.1% of youth aged 15–24 in 2008.online-presentation of: South African National HIV Prevalence, Incidence, Behaviour and Communication Survey, 2008: A Turning Tide Among Teenagers?
, page 33 The challenges that have to be faced when evaluating a national HIV prevention strategy as loveLife is described in Pettifor ''et al.'' 2007.Challenge of evaluating a national HIV prevention programme: the case of loveLife, South Africa
/ref>

References

{{Greater Johannesburg, serve Non-profit organisations based in South Africa Organizations established in 1999 Organisations based in Johannesburg HIV/AIDS in South Africa 1999 establishments in South Africa Medical and health organisations based in South Africa