Trends in Prevalence of Advanced HIV Disease at Antiretroviral Therapy Enrollment - 10 Countries, 2004-2015.

Monitoring prevalence of advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease (i.e., CD4+ T-cell count <200 cells/µL) among persons starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) is important to understand ART program outcomes, inform HIV prevention strategy, and forecast need for adjunctive therapies.*,†,§ To assess trends in prevalence of advanced disease at ART initiation in 10 high-burden countries during 2004-2015, records of 694,138 ART enrollees aged ≥15 years from 797 ART facilities were analyzed. Availability of national electronic medical record systems allowed up-to-date evaluation of trends in Haiti (2004-2015), Mozambique (2004-2014), and Namibia (2004-2012), where prevalence of advanced disease at ART initiation declined from 75% to 34% (p<0.001), 73% to 37% (p<0.001), and 80% to 41% (p<0.001), respectively. Significant declines in prevalence of advanced disease during 2004-2011 were observed in Nigeria, Swaziland, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe. The encouraging declines in prevalence of advanced disease at ART enrollment are likely due to scale-up of testing and treatment services and ART-eligibility guidelines encouraging earlier ART initiation. However, in 2015, approximately a third of new ART patients still initiated ART with advanced HIV disease. To reduce prevalence of advanced disease at ART initiation, adoption of World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended "treat-all" guidelines and strategies to facilitate earlier HIV testing and treatment are needed to reduce HIV-related mortality and HIV incidence.

Retention Throughout the HIV Care and Treatment Cascade: From Diagnosis to Antiretroviral Treatment of Adults and Children Living with HIV-Haiti, 1985-2015.

Monitoring retention of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the HIV care and treatment cascade is essential to guide program strategy and evaluate progress toward globally-endorsed 90-90-90 targets (i.e., 90% of PLHIV diagnosed, 81% on sustained antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 73% virally suppressed). We describe national retention from diagnosis throughout the cascade for patients receiving HIV services in Haiti during 1985-2015, with a focus on those receiving HIV services during 2008-2015. Among the 266,256 newly diagnosed PLHIV during 1985-2015, 49% were linked-to-care, 30% started ART, and 18% were retained on ART by the time of database closure. Similarly, among the 192,187 newly diagnosed HIV-positive patients during 2008-2015, 50% were linked to care, 31% started ART, and 19% were retained on ART by the time of database closure. Most patients (90-92%) at all cascade steps were adults (≥ 15 years old), among whom the majority (60-61%) were female. During 2008-2015, outcomes varied significantly across 42 administrative districts (arrondissements) of residence; cumulative linkage-to-care ranged from 23% to 69%, cumulative ART initiation among care enrollees ranged from 2% to 80%, and cumulative ART retention among ART enrollees ranged from 30% to 88%. Compared with adults, children had lower cumulative incidence of ART initiation among care enrollees (64% versus 47%) and lower cumulative retention among ART enrollees (64% versus 50%). Cumulative linkage-to-care was low and should be prioritized for improvement. Variations in outcomes by arrondissement and between adults and children require further investigation and programmatic response.

Strengthening National Disease Surveillance and Response-Haiti, 2010-2015.

Haiti's health system has faced many challenges over the years, with competing health priorities in the context of chronic financial and human resource limitations. As a result, the existing notifiable disease surveillance system was unable to provide the most basic epidemiologic data for public health decision-making and action. In the wake of the January 2010 earthquake, the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population collaborated with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Pan American Health Organization, and other local and international partners to implement a functional national surveillance system. More than 7 years later, it is important to take the opportunity to reflect on progress made on surveillance and response in Haiti, including disease detection, reporting, outbreak investigation, and response. The national epidemiologic surveillance network that started with 51 sites in 2010 has been expanded to 357 sites as of December 2015. Disease outbreaks identified via the surveillance system, or other surveillance approaches, are investigated by epidemiologists trained by the Ministry of Health's Field Epidemiology Training Program. Other related surveillance modules have been developed on the same model and electronic platform, allowing the country to document the impact of interventions, track progress, and monitor health problems. Sustainability remains the greatest challenge since most of the funding for surveillance come from external sources.