People living with HIV who know their HIV status

Export Indicator

Percentage of people living with HIV who know their HIV status at the end of the reporting period
What it measures

Progress towards increasing the proportion of people living with HIV who know their HIV status and the efficacy of HIV testing interventions

Rationale

People living with HIV who know their HIV status will be able to access the HIV care and treatment services required to live healthy, productive lives and to reduce the potential of transmitting HIV to other people. The most effective way to ensure that people living with HIV are aware of their HIV status is to offer HIV testing services at locations and among populations with the highest HIV burden.

This measure is the first 95 of the UNAIDS 95-95-95 target: that 95% of the people living with HIV know their HIV status by 2025.

Numerator

Number of people living with HIV who know their HIV status

Denominator

Number of people living with HIV

Calculation

Numerator/denominator

Note: Countries with a population of more than 250 000 will report on this indicator by broad and detailed age and sex groups within their national Spectrum estimation file. Those indicator results will be obtained directly from the final national Spectrum file, along with all other Spectrum-based indicators. Reporting on sub-national data for the indicator will be done in the Global AIDS Monitoring reporting tool. If a country has sub-national estimates developed using Naomi, these data will be obtained directly from the final Naomi file.

Method of measurement

There are two recommended methods for estimating the proportion of people living with HIV who know their status. The method used depends on the availability of data in the country.

  1. Direct estimates from HIV case surveillance systems​​​​​

    For the numerator. In countries with well-functioning HIV case surveillance systems, the number of people living with HIV who know their status is the same as the number of people diagnosed with HIV and reported to the surveillance system who are still alive.

    For the denominator. Estimation models such as Spectrum are the preferred source for the number of people living with HIV. If models other than Spectrum are used, documentation of the estimation method and uncertainty bounds should be provided.

    On case surveillance methods. An HIV case surveillance system is considered to be functioning well if reporting from all facilities providing confirmatory HIV testing, care and treatment services has been in place since at least 2015, and if people who have died, been lost to follow-up or emigrated are removed from the numerator. Only confirmed HIV diagnoses should be counted, although countries should be sure to adjust for reporting delays by including an estimate of the number of people diagnosed but not yet reported during the latest calendar year (if necessary). Mechanisms should be in place to deduplicate individuals diagnosed and reported multiple times or from multiple facilities.
     

  2. Modelled estimates

For the numerator: The approach to modelling the estimate of the number of people who know their HIV status among those living with HIV will depend on the availability of data in the country.

For countries with robust case surveillance and vital registration systems, the number of people who know their HIV status can be derived using the Case Surveillance and Vital Registration (CSAVR) HIV prevalence estimation tool in Spectrum. A similar estimation method is available through the European Centres for Disease Control (ECDC) HIV modelling tool (https://ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/hiv-modelling-tool). Estimates from other country-specific approaches to modelling this count that are based on case surveillance and clinical data may also be reported where these methods have been peer-reviewed and published.

For countries with household population survey data that either directly capture the number of HIV-positive respondents who report that they know their status or the number of HIV-positive people who report ever having been tested, UNAIDS recommends (as of 2018) that knowledge of HIV-positive status be modelled using the Shiny90 model. More information about the tool, including the required inputs, can be found at https://shiny90.unaids.org/.

Estimates of knowledge of HIV-positive status that are based only on self-reported knowledge of status or on historical household population survey data about testing history should not be reported.

For the denominator. Estimation models such as Spectrum are the preferred source for the number of people living with HIV. UNAIDS will work with countries to develop a Spectrum model that matches the estimates of people living with HIV if estimates other than those produced through Spectrum are used.

On estimating the number of children who know their status in countries with modelled estimates based on household survey data. Since household surveys are often restricted to respondents of reproductive age, a separate estimate of knowledge of HIV status among children (0–14 years old) may need to be constructed using programme data in order to produce an overall (i.e., all ages) estimate. In this case, UNAIDS recommends that countries use the number of children on treatment, as reported in Indicator 2.2, as a proxy measure. This approach represents the most conservative measure of knowledge of status in the population.

Measurement frequency

Annually

Disaggregation
  • 0–14 years for children and 15 years and older by sex (men and women) for adults.
  • As available: Disaggregation by detailed age and sex: <1 year, 1–4 years, 5–9 years and 10–14 years for children and 15–19 years, 20–24 years, 25–49 years and 50+ years by sex (men and women) for adults; by gender (men, women, other gender) for adults.
Additional information requested

If there are subnational data available, please provide the disaggregation by administrative area, city, or site in the space provided.

Strengths and weaknesses
Case-based reporting method
 
Case-based surveillance provides reasonable measures of knowledge of HIV status in the following instances:
  • The system has been in place for long enough that all people diagnosed and still alive have been reported.
  • There are timely and complete mechanisms for reporting newly diagnosed cases to the system from all facilities that offer HIV diagnostic testing.
  • Mechanisms are in place to de-duplicate repeat diagnoses among individuals reported multiple times and/or from multiple facilities.
  • There is sufficient continuous or periodic follow-up of individuals to identify that they are still alive, as opposed to having died or moved out of the country

Countries relying on weak systems may overestimate or underestimate knowledge of HIV status in the following cases:

  • De-duplication of case reports has not occurred (leading to overestimation).
  • Deaths or out-migration among people diagnosed and reported to the system have not been removed (overestimation).
  • Case reporting is not routine from all HIV testing facilities with confirmatory capacity (underestimation).

Modelled estimates

The accuracy of modelled estimates of knowledge of HIV-positive status will depend on the quality of the data inputs in each country and the accuracy of the assumptions underpinning each model. Countries should review the quality of the data inputs with UNAIDS and the selected modelling approach to determine the extent to which modelled estimates might overstate or understate knowledge of status among people living with HIV in the country.

 

Further information

Consolidated guidelines on person-centred HIV strategic information: strengthening routine data for impact. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2022 (https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240055315).

Spectrum. In: Avenir Health [Internet]. Glastonbury (CT): Avenir health; 2016 (http://www.avenirhealth.org/software-spectrum.php).

The DHS Program: Demographic and Health Surveys [webpage]. Rockville (MD): ICF; c2019 (http://dhsprogram.com).

Related Indicators

TL.1 PLHIV who know their HIV status, 2020, WHO Consolidated HIV strategic information guidelines: driving impact through programme monitoring and management (https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/consolidated-hiv-strategic-information-guidelines)