Modeling the epidemiological impact of the UNAIDS 2025 targets to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

Background: UNAIDS has established new program targets for 2025 to achieve the goal of eliminating AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. This study reports on efforts to use mathematical models to estimate the impact of achieving those targets.

Methods And Findings: We simulated the impact of achieving the targets at country level using the Goals model, a mathematical simulation model of HIV epidemic dynamics that includes the impact of prevention and treatment interventions.

Ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030: Time to reset targets for 2025.

Paul De Lay and co-authors introduce a Collection on the design of targets for ending the AIDS epidemic.

Correction: What Is Required to End the AIDS Epidemic as a Public Health Threat by 2030? The Cost and Impact of the Fast-Track Approach.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Protecting the confidentiality and security of personal health information in low- and middle-income countries in the era of SDGs and Big Data.

Background: As increasing amounts of personal information are being collected through a plethora of electronic modalities by statutory and non-statutory organizations, ensuring the confidentiality and security of such information has become a major issue globally. While the use of many of these media can be beneficial to individuals or populations, they can also be open to abuse by individuals or statutory and non-statutory organizations. Recent examples include collection of personal information by national security systems and the development of national programs like the Chinese Social Credit System.

Correction: What Is Required to End the AIDS Epidemic as a Public Health Threat by 2030? The Cost and Impact of the Fast-Track Approach.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

What Is Required to End the AIDS Epidemic as a Public Health Threat by 2030? The Cost and Impact of the Fast-Track Approach.

In 2011 a new Investment Framework was proposed that described how the scale-up of key HIV interventions could dramatically reduce new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths in low and middle income countries by 2015. This framework included ambitious coverage goals for prevention and treatment services for 2015, resulting in a reduction of new HIV infections by more than half, in line with the goals of the declaration of the UN High Level Meeting in June 2011. However, the approach suggested a leveling in the number of new infections at about 1 million annually-far from the UNAIDS goal of ending AIDS by 2030.

Scaling-up the use of generic antiretrovirals in resource-limited countries: generic drugs for health.

The number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) continues to increase around the world because of the increasing number on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and their associated increase of life expectancy, in addition to the number of people newly infected with HIV each year. Unless a 'cure' can be found for HIV infection, PLHIV can anticipate the need to take antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) for the rest of their lives. Because ARVs are now being used for HIV prevention, as well as for therapeutic purposes, the need for effective, affordable ARVs with few adverse effects will continue to rise.

Determinants of government HIV/AIDS financing: a 10-year trend analysis from 125 low- and middle-income countries.

Background: Trends and predictors of domestic spending from public sources provide national authorities and international donors with a better understanding of the HIV financing architecture, the fulfillment of governments' commitments and potential for long-term sustainability.

Methods: We analyzed government financing of HIV using evidence from country reports on domestic spending. Panel data from 2000 to 2010 included information from 647 country-years amongst 125 countries.

Costs and cost-effectiveness of HIV community services: quantity and quality of studies published 1986-2011.

Community services comprise an important part of a country's HIV response. English language cost and cost-effectiveness studies of HIV community services published between 1986 and 2011 were reviewed but only 74 suitable studies were identified, 66% of which were performed in five countries. Mean study scores by continent varied from 42 to 69% of the maximum score, reflecting variation in topics covered and the quality of coverage: 38% of studies covered key and 11% other vulnerable populations - a country's response is most effective and efficient if these populations are identified given they are key to a successful response.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of Option B+ for HIV prevention and treatment of mothers and children in Malawi.

Background: The Ministry of Health in Malawi is implementing a pragmatic and innovative approach for the management of all HIV-infected pregnant women, termed Option B+, which consists of providing life-long antiretroviral treatment, regardless of their CD4 count or clinical stage. Our objective was to determine if Option B+ represents a cost-effective option.

Methods: A decision model simulates the disease progression of a cohort of HIV-infected pregnant women receiving prophylaxis and antiretroviral therapy, and estimates the number of paediatric infections averted and maternal life years gained over a ten-year time horizon.

Counting the cost of not costing HIV health facilities accurately: pay now, or pay more later.

The HIV pandemic continues to be one of our greatest contemporary public health threats. Policy makers in many middle- and low-income countries are in the process of scaling up HIV prevention, treatment and care services in the context of a reduction in international HIV funding due to the global economic downturn. In order to scale up services that are sustainable in the long term, policy makers and implementers need to have access to robust and contemporary strategic information, including financial information on expenditure and cost, in order to be able to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate HIV services.

Pattern and levels of spending allocated to HIV prevention programs in low- and middle-income countries.

Background: AIDS continues to spread at an estimated 2.6 new million infections per year, making the prevention of HIV transmission a critical public health issue. The dramatic growth in global resources for AIDS has produced a steady scale-up in treatment and care that has not been equally matched by preventive services.

The cost of treatment and care for people living with HIV infection: implications of published studies, 1999-2008.

Purpose Of Review: Increasing number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) will require expanded access to health services. Countries need robust and contemporary strategic information on the cost of care to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and acceptability of services. Published HIV cost literature from July 1999 to December 2008 was reviewed.

Are we on course for reporting on the Millennium Development Goals in 2015?

Objectives: At the 2001 United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS), Member States agreed to regularly review progress made in national responses to HIV. This article provides (1) a brief overview of how the resultant global UNGASS reporting system was developed; (2) the origins, background, limitations and potential of that system; (3) an overview of the articles in this supplement; and (4) crosscutting institutional and methodological issues.

Methods: United Nations Member States biennially provide The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) with data on 25 core indicators of national responses to HIV, collected in Country Progress Reports.

Financing the response to HIV in low-income and middle-income countries.

Objectives: To describe levels of national HIV spending and examine programmatic allocations according to the type of epidemic and country income.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of HIV expenditures from 50 low-income and middle-income countries. Sources of information included country reports of domestic spending by programmatic activity and HIV services.

Are we spending too much on HIV?

Billions of pounds are being spent on the fight against AIDS in developing countries. believes that much of the money could be better used elsewhere, whereas argue that current spending is not enough

The global impact of scaling up HIV/AIDS prevention programs in low- and middle-income countries.

A strong, global commitment to expanded prevention programs targeted at sexual transmission and transmission among injecting drug users, started now, could avert 28 million new HIV infections between 2005 and 2015. This figure is more than half of the new infections that might otherwise occur during that period in 125 low- and middle-income countries. Although preventing these new infections would require investing about U.

Gender and monitoring the response to HIV / AIDS pandemic.

The mechanisms, techniques, and data sources used to monitor and evaluate global AIDS prevention and treatment services may vary according to gender. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV / AIDS has been charged with tracking the response to the pandemic by using a set of indicators developed as part of the Declaration of Commitment endorsed at the U.N.

Politics of monitoring and evaluation: Lessons from the AIDS epidemic.

Monitoring and evaluation programs must strike a balance between generating meaningful tactical information for program managers while taking steps to ensure that public data use does not worsen discrimination and stigma toward people who are positive for the human immunodeficiency virus.