U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Increase viral suppression — HIV‑05 Data Methodology and Measurement

On this page:  About the National Data  |  Methodology  |  History

About the National Data

Data

Data Source:  National HIV Surveillance System (NHSS), CDC/NCHHSTP

Baseline: 63.1 percent of persons aged 13 years and over living with diagnosed HIV infection were virally suppressed in 2017

Target: 95.0 percent

Numerator
Number of persons aged 13 years and over with diagnosed HIV infection whose most recent viral load test showed that HIV viral load was suppressed. Viral suppression is defined as a viral load test result of <200 copies/mL at the most recent viral load test.
Denominator
Number of persons aged 13 years and over with HIV infection diagnosed by the end of one calendar year and alive at end of the next calendar year.
Target-setting method
Maintain consistency with national programs, regulations, policies, or laws
Target-setting method justification
The target was selected to align with the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) Initiative, which seeks to reduce new HIV infections by 90 percent by 2030 by scaling up four evidence- based strategies- diagnose, treat, prevent, and respond. Viral suppression is associated with the treat strategy, and the target is to increase to 95 percent. This target aligns with the 95-95-95 Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) plan to accelerate action to end AIDS by 2030.

Methodology

Methodology notes

Viral suppression was defined as a viral load test result of <200 copies/mL at the most recent viral load test. The cutoff value of <200 copies/mL is based on the definition of virologic failure. If multiple viral load tests were conducted during the same month and could qualify as the "most recent," the highest viral load (most severe) was selected. If the numerical result was missing or the result was a logarithmic value, the interpretation of the result (e.g., below limit) was used to determine viral suppression.

Data for this indicator are limited to jurisdictions (50 US states and District of Columbia) with complete reporting of CD4 and viral load test results to CDC. Forty-two (42) jurisdictions met criteria in 2017. Data from the 42 jurisdictions represent 89% of all persons >13 years living with diagnosed HIV infection at year-end 2016 in the United States and are therefore not representative of data on all persons living with diagnosed HIV infection in the United States.

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Retained, which includes core objectives that are continuing from Healthy People 2020 with no change in measurement.