Introduction
Significant progress has been made in the African
HIV
pandemic; however, the pace of incidence decline has slowed or stalled in many East and Southern African countries, especially among young women. This stall is worrying because many countries have burgeoning youth populations. There is an important window of opportunity to halt the epidemic as well as the potential for millions more infections if primary prevention efforts are not strengthened.
Discussion
Many hyper‐endemic settings have been exposed to numerous interventions; however,
HIV
incidence among young women has remained high. In this paper, we characterize the intervention context and examine how it can be strategically utilized to maximize
HIV
prevention interventions among young women. We begin by examining how contextual dynamics drive
HIV
risk. We illustrate how epidemiological contexts, gendered normative and economic contexts, and environmental contexts work synergistically to make young women especially vulnerable to
HIV
infection. We then examine how these contexts can undermine
HIV
prevention interventions. Finally, we discuss the importance of fully mapping out the intervention context to enhance the effectiveness of
HIV
prevention interventions.
Conclusions
Understanding an intervention context, and how its features work together to amplify young women's risk in hyper‐endemic settings can contribute to sustained momentum in reducing
HIV
incidence among young women and help to limit the reach of the
HIV
pandemic into new generations of Africans.