People living with HIV who have suppressed VL

Export Indicator

Percentage of people living with HIV on ART (for at least 6 months) who have virological suppression
What it measures

This indicator measures clinical outcomes of patients on ART regardless of initiation date.

Rationale
  • Viral load suppression (VLS) represents the expected outcome of ART programme services (that is, the third 95).
  • VLS is also the best available measure of patient adherence to ART.
Numerator

Number of people living with HIV on ART for at least 6 months and with at least one routine VL test result who have virological suppression (<1000 copies/mL) during the reporting period

Denominator

Number of people living with HIV on ART at least 6 months with at least one routine VL result in a medical or lab record during the reporting period

Method of measurement

For the numerator and denominator. Programme records (for example, ART register, patient records, laboratory records) or acquired HIVDR surveillance, population-based surveys (such as PHIA) that collect data on ART coverage and viral suppression.

This indicator must be interpreted along with VL testing coverage to assess the potential for bias, that is, whether VL testing occurs in only a particular subset of patients.

Note: First routine VL testing is recommended at 6 months after ART initiation. As per AV.7, the time window for early VL monitoring can include a margin of +/- 1 month, that is, for reporting purposes a routine VL test can take place any time from 5 to 7 months after initiation of ART.

Disaggregation
  • Gender (male, female, transgender)
  • Age (0-4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50+)
  • Key populations (men who have sex with men, people living in prisons and other closed settings, people who inject drugs, sex workers, transgender people).

Additional or alternative disaggregations may be appropriate in some settings, depending on HIS capacity.

Further information

WHO Strategic Information Guidelines, 2020 (https://indicatorregistry.unaids.org/sites/default/files/9789240000735-eng.pdf)

Related Indicators

TX_PVLS, PEPFAR, MER 2.0 (Version 2.4), September 2019, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting (https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/PEPFAR-MER-Indicator-Reference-Guide-Version-2.4-FY20.pdf).

1.3 People living with HIV who have suppressed viral load, Global AIDS Monitoring 2020: Indicators for monitoring the 2016 Political Declaration on Ending AIDS (https://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/global-aids-monitoring_en.pdf).