The MEMA kwa Vijana project aims to boost collective efficacy in neighborhoods as a mechanism to improve the sexual health of adolescents in Northern Tanzania. The intervention comprises a teacher-led, peer-assisted sexual health education program for students in the last three years of primary school, training and supervision of health workers in the provision of youth-friendly health services, peer condom promotion and distribution, and wider community activities.
Process and outcome evaluations are under way, including a community-randomized trial involving 9,645 students followed up for three years. Impact measures included incidence and prevalence of HIV and other STIs, pregnancy rates, and knowledge and reported attitudes and sexual behavior. First results are promising.