The HIV care cascade in Manitoba, Canada: Methods, measures, and estimates to meet local needs.

Background And Objective: We describe the development of the first HIV care cascade for Manitoba, Canada, detailing steps taken to establish indicator definitions for each cascade step, and derive a full complement of local estimates.

Methods: Manitoba is a Canadian Prairie Province with disproportionately high annual HIV incidence. In 2013, a clinical cohort of people living with HIV was established within the primary HIV care program in Manitoba. Using cohort data from 2017, we describe the creation of a set of indicator definitions and calculate estimates for each cascade step to create the first Manitoban cascade model.

Results: Of the 703 cohort participants categorized as alive and diagnosed, 638 (90.8%) were in care, 606 (86.2%) retained in care, 573 (81.5%) on treatment, and 523 (74.4%) virologically suppressed. The greatest point of leakage occurred between the first and second steps; 9.3% of those alive and diagnosed in 2017 were not in care in the same calendar year.

Conclusion: This is the first comprehensive examination of HIV clinical epidemiology in Manitoba using a cascade framework, with the potential inform programming to improve service coverage within Manitoba and significantly contribute to evidence informing provincial policies to support these efforts.