The epidemiology of HIV population viral load in twelve sub-Saharan African countries.
Wolfgang HladikPaul StuppStephen D McCrackenJessica E JustmanClement B NdongmoJudith ShangEmily Kainne DokuboElizabeth GummersonIsabelle KouiStephane BodikaRoger LobognonHermann BrouCaroline RyanKristin BrownHarriet Nuwagaba-BiribonwohaLeonard KingwaraPeter W YoungMegan BronsonDuncan ChegeOptatus MalewoYohannes MengistuFrederix KoenAndreas JahnAndrew F AuldSasi JonnalagaddaElizabeth RadinNdapewa HamunimeDaniel B WilliamsEugenie KayirangwaVeronicah MugishaRennatus MdodoStephen DelgadoWilford KirungiLisa NelsonChristine WestSamuel BiraroKumbutso DzekedzekeDanielle BarradasOwen MugurungiShirish BalachandraPeter H KilmarxGodfrey MusukaHetal PatelBharat S ParekhKatrina SleemanRobert A DomaoalGeorge W RutherfordTsietso MotsoaneAnne-Cécile Zoung-Kanyi BissekMansoor FarahaniAndrew C VoetschPublished in: PloS one (2023)
Despite higher proportions of viral suppression, female unsuppressed PLHIV outnumbered males in all countries examined. Unsuppressed male PLHIV have consistently higher VL and a higher risk of transmitting HIV than females. Just 5% of PLHIV account for almost two-thirds of countries' total VL. Population-level VL metrics help monitor the epidemic and highlight key programmatic gaps in these African countries.