Substantial progress in confronting the HIV epidemic in Swaziland : first evidence of national impact

Abstract of presentation at the 9th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science, July 23-26 : Paris, France.Background: Swaziland has the highest national HIV incidence and prevalence in the world. In response, the Swazi government extensively scaled-up national HIV prevention and treatment services. The 2016-17 Population HIV Impact Assessment (PHIA) Swaziland HIV Incidence Measurement Survey (SHIMS2) provides the first measure of the impact of national HIV programs scale-up on the epidemic\u2019s trajectory since the previous SHIMS1 survey conducted in 2011.Methods: A nationally representative sample of individual 6515 years (y) underwent household-based, rapid HIV testing from August 2016-March 2017. All HIV-positive samples were tested for HIV RNA and limiting antigen (LAg) Avidity. WHO criteria for HIV incidence estimates were used (LAg 1000 copies/ml). Viral load (VL) suppression (VLS) was defined as