SARS-CoV-2 serologic surveillance among people living with HIV in Nigeria, April 2022 to January 2023.

Objectives: Evidence indicates that people living with HIV (PLHIV) are more impacted by COVID-19. The burden of SARS-CoV-2 infection among PLHIV is unknown in Nigeria.

Methods: We conducted repeated cross-sectional SARS-CoV-2 serosurveys in 14 states and the Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria among PLHIV who had an HIV viral load (VL) test during April 2022 to January 2023.

Longitudinal viral load outcomes of adults with HIV after detectable viremia on tenofovir, lamivudine, and dolutegravir.

Background: To inform optimal management of HIV viremia on tenofovir, lamivudine, and dolutegravir (TLD), we examined viral load (VL) outcomes of a large cohort of adult PWH on TLD in Nigeria.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of adult PWH who had ≥1 VL after initiating TLD during January 2017-February 2023. VLs were categorized as undetectable (≤50 copies/ml), low low-level viremia (LLV, 51-199 copies/ml), high LLV (200-999 copies/ml), virologic nonsuppression (VLNS, ≥1000 copies/ml), and virologic failure (VF, ≥2 consecutive VLNS results).

HIV risk behaviour, viraemia, and transmission across HIV cascade stages including low-level viremia: Analysis of 14 cross-sectional population-based HIV Impact Assessment surveys in sub-Saharan Africa.

As antiretroviral treatment (ART) coverage for people living with HIV (PLHIV) increases, HIV programmes require up-to-date information about evolving HIV risk behaviour and transmission risk, including those with low-level viremia (LLV; >50 to ≤1000 copies/mL), to guide prevention priorities. We aimed to assess differences in sexual risk behaviours, distribution of viral load (VL) and proportion of transmission across PLHIV subgroups. We analysed data from Population-based HIV Impact Assessment surveys in 14 sub-Saharan African countries during 2015-2019.

Reaching HIV epidemic control in Nigeria using a lower HIV viral load suppression cut-off.

Background: Virologic suppression has been defined using a HIV viral load of less than 1000 copies/ml. Low-level viremia (51-999 copies/ml) is associated with an increased risk of virologic failure and HIV drug resistance.

Methods: Retrospective data from persons with HIV (PWH) who initiated ART between January 2016 and September 2022 in Nigeria were analyzed for virologic suppression at cut-off values less than 1000 copies/ml.

Optimizing community linkage to care and antiretroviral therapy Initiation: Lessons from the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) and their adaptation in Nigeria ART Surge.

Background: Ineffective linkage to care (LTC) is a known challenge for community HIV testing. To overcome this challenge, a robust linkage to care strategy was adopted by the 2018 Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS). The NAIIS linkage to care strategy was further adapted to improve Nigeria's programmatic efforts to achieve the 1st 90 as part of the Nigeria Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Surge initiative, which also included targeted community testing.

Expanding access to HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic-Nigeria, 2020.

Background: To accelerate progress toward the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Nigeria country office (CDC Nigeria) initiated an Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) Surge in 2019 to identify and link 340,000 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) to ART. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) threatened to interrupt ART Surge progress following the detection of the first case in Nigeria in February 2020. To overcome this disruption, CDC Nigeria designed and implemented adapted ART Surge strategies during February-September 2020.

Confronting Challenges in Monitoring and Evaluation: Innovation in the Context of the Global Plan Towards the Elimination of New HIV Infections Among Children by 2015 and Keeping Their Mothers Alive.

The Global Plan Towards the Elimination of New HIV Infections Among Children by 2015 and Keeping Their Mothers Alive (Global Plan), which was launched in 2011, set a series of ambitious targets, including a reduction of new HIV infections among children by 90% by 2015 (from a baseline year of 2009) and AIDS-related maternal mortality by 50% by 2015. To reach these targets, the Global Plan called for unprecedented investments in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT), innovative new approaches to service delivery, immense collective effort on the programmatic and policy fronts, and importantly, a renewed focus on data collection and use. We provide an overview of major achievements in monitoring and evaluation across Global Plan countries and highlight key challenges and innovative country-driven solutions using PMTCT program data.

The role of family planning in achieving safe pregnancy for serodiscordant couples: commentary from the United States government's interagency task force on family planning and HIV service integration.

Introduction: People living with HIV (PLHIV) have the right to exercise voluntary choices about their health, including their reproductive health. This commentary discusses the integral role that family planning (FP) plays in helping PLHIV, including those in serodiscordant relationships, achieve conception safely. The United States (US) President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is committed to meeting the reproductive health needs of PLHIV by improving their access to voluntary FP counselling and services, including prevention of unintended pregnancy and counselling for safer conception.

Meeting the family planning needs of women living with HIV in US government global health programs.

The integration of health programs, including HIV and voluntary family planning, is a priority for US government foreign assistance. One critical component of family planning and HIV integration that has significant positive health outcomes is ensuring that all women living with HIV have access to both a full range of contraceptives and safe pregnancy counseling. This article outlines the US government global health strategy to meet the family planning needs of women living with HIV based on three key principles: a focus on reproductive rights through voluntarism and informed choice, quality service provision through evidence-based programming, and development of partnerships.