About the web AA-HA! 2.0
This is a web version of the Accelerated Action for the Health of adolescents (AA-HA!)2.0 guidance. We developed this version
- to enhance the accessibility of the AA-HA! content on a wide range of devices and operating systems, including computers, smartphones, and tablets
- to enhance users’ experience and engagement with the content by embedding seamless navigation across chapters and including hyperlinks to related external content and multimedia.
- to ensure that users always have access to the latest WHO estimates on mortality and morbidity in adolescents that are presented in Chapter 2 of the guidance, and that new relevant resources are linked to the web AA-HA!2.0 in real time
However, this is an abbreviated version of the AA-HA!2.0 guidance. To have a full understanding of AA-HA! recommendations, please read the full document.
Aim of the guidance
The AA-HA! guidance aims to assist governments in identifying national and subnational priorities and implementation strategies as they respond to the health and well-being challenges, opportunities and needs of adolescents in their countries. It is intended as a reference document for national and subnational policy-makers and programme managers to assist them in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating adolescent health and well-being programmes.
The first edition
The first edition of the AA-HA! guidance was published in 2017, building on the momentum created by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the United Nations Secretary- General’s Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016–2030) (the Global Strategy) in support of the 2030 Agenda and in response to the request of the 68th World Health Assembly to develop global guidance on how to take accelerated action for the health of adolescents.
Beta, a 16 year old girl, at a “Child friendly space”, in Diapangou, in the east of Burkina Faso
Overall, the AA-HA! guidance document is a useful reference for countries seeking to improve the health and well-being of their adolescent populations.
The second edition
The second edition uses the same systematic approach to planning and implementing adolescent health and well-being programmes as in the first edition.
What is new in the second edition?
- New data. The revised edition provides updated data on the adolescent population globally, their mortality, morbidity, selected health outcomes, risk and protective factors and determinants of their health and well-being (Chapter 2).
- Building on significant political and scientific advances since 2017 such as major global initiatives, research, new guidelines and new evidence synthesis from UN agencies.
- Integrating learnings from the application of the first edition of the AA-HA! guidance.
- Defining well-being and integrating into programmes. The second edition takes the important step of moving from a largely health-centric perspective to a more holistic understanding of adolescent well-being, including its implication for programming ( see A logical framework for national programming for adolescent health and well-being).
- Integrating lessons from COVID-19.
What adolescents and young people wanted to see covered in the second edition of AA-HA!
In 2023, WHO held a global public consultation in six WHO official languages to collect inputs from the end users of the guidance and young people. Box A presents the key themes that emerged from the adolescent and young adults component of the public consultation – a synthesis of what 631 respondents said that they would want or expect the current document to cover, highlighting their priorities and concerns in the context of health and well-being.
To learn more about how and why the AA-HA! guidance was developed, please see the full document.
