Progress towards attaining viral suppression among people living with HIV in Burkina Faso, 2018: A Secondary Data Analysis

Abstract

Introduction: HIV is a major public health problem though some progress has been made globally. Monitoring progress towards globally set targets and data quality is important in helping policymakers refine the policy direction and further investment decisions. We estimated the proportion of people living with HIV (PLHIV) who have achieved viral suppression using nationally representative data and at the subnational level while evaluating the HIV reporting system.

Methods: We conducted a secondary data analysis of a cohort of PLHIV enrolled into care from 1 January 2018 to 1 December 2018 and estimate cohort indicators over 12 months after antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. We evaluated the concordance between routine data collected through a monthly reporting system and data from the register of PLHIV enrolment, and the register of ART dispensing. The level of achievement of the 3rd 90 target was assessed by dividing the number of PLHIV under ART with a suppressed plasmatic viral load (PVL) by the total of PLHIV under ART. To determine the efficacy of ART, we divided the number of PLHIV with a suppressed PVL by the total of PLHIV with a PVL test result.

Results: On 1 December 2018, the exact number of PLHIV followed up in Burkina Faso was 59,755. The level of achievement of the indicator on the suppression of PVL (3rd 90) remained low, at 22.0% nationwide with regional variations going from 1.3% in the Central South region to 31.6 in the Northern region. On a national scale, 83.9% of PLHIV who got a PVL test had a suppressed PVL.

Conclusion: The prescription of PVL test and the level of achievement of the 3rd 90% target remain low. This situation requires urgent intervention measures such as training and supervision of healthcare workers and improving the geographical and financial access to PVL testing in order to quickly reach the new country target of 95%.