WHO Updated Recommendations on HIV Prevention, Infant Diagnosis, Antiretroviral Initiation and Monitoring

These guidelines provide updated and new recommendations on prevention, infant diagnosis, treatment monitoring and antiretroviral therapy (ART) among those initiating treatment for tuberculosis (TB). The recommendations developed for this guideline will be integrated with the updated consolidated HIV guidelines that will be released in the second half of 2021.

HIV infection is a public health issue. In 2019, more than 38.0 million [31.6 million–44.6 million] people were living with HIV, and more than 1.7 million [1.2 million–2.2 million] people acquired HIV. Nearly 61% of the people newly infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa. Between 2010 and 2019, the epidemic also continued to grow in eastern Europe and central Asia, with the number of people acquiring HIV rising by 72%. There were also increases in the Middle East and North Africa (22%) and Latin America (21%) (1). The United Nations General Assembly agreed in June 2016 that ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 requires a Fast-Track response, with three milestones to be reached by 2020 (2). These milestones include reducing the number of people newly infected with HIV to fewer than 500 000 per year globally, reducing the number of people dying from AIDS-related causes to fewer than 500 000 per year globally and eliminating HIV-related stigma and discrimination (3). Although the number of people dying from AIDS-related causes has steadily declined by nearly one third and annual incidence is the lowest since 1989, these global targets have not been achieved and remain a significant challenge.