Evidence and Evidence Gaps in Adolescent Health

The momentum to bring adolescents and young adults to center stage in global health and international development is palpable. Adolescents are increasingly seen as a crucial group for the success of the newly adopted Agenda for Sustainable Development [1]. Sitting within the Agenda for Sustainable Development framework, the 2030 Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health has extended the Every Woman, Every Child agenda to adolescence [2]. The strategy articulates the need for adolescent responsive health systems as well as social determinants, a focus that extends to legal and policy environments [3]. Countries seeking to adopt this more holistic approach to adolescent health and human rights must extend their public health efforts beyond the traditional yet still essential focus on HIV and sexual and reproductive health to address other infectious diseases, injuries, undernutrition, violence, self-harm, mental health, and the prevention of risks for noncommunicable diseases. Good adolescent health generates a “triple dividend” from optimal growth and fulfilled youth potential, healthier trajectories across the life course and the healthiest possible start to life for the next generation [4]. In addition, with the largest generation of 10to 24-year-olds in human history, the benefits will never be greater. Yet there are limits to our current capacity to respond [4]. Service delivery systems remain poorly developed. Equally, systems for collecting data on health need are weak and poorly coordinated so that few countries have a capacity to set balanced priorities or monitor progress. In addition, the coordination of health actions both within and outside the health service sector is weak. Arguably, the greatest limitations lie in the evidence for action. This supplement to the Journal of Adolescent Health addresses that challenge. The first article in this supplement, “Adolescent Health and Well-Being: Background and Methodology for Review of Potential Interventions,” frames adolescence and adolescent health in the life course and intergenerational cycle [5]. Many mental and substance use disorders of adulthood emerge during these years [6]. So too, risk processes for the noncommunicable diseases of later life, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and musculoskeletal and metabolic problems, commonly arise during adolescence [7]. Many risks for maternal and child health also begin during the adolescent and young adult years prior to first pregnancy. Because they affect fetal development before the