The Prevalence of High Antiretroviral Coverage and Viral Suppression in Japan: an Excellent Profile for a Downstream Human Immunodeficiency Virus Care Spectrum.

Abstract

We investigated the effectiveness of the Japanese health care system for human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency virus (HIV/AIDS), in terms of prevention, diagnosis, access to antiretroviral treatment, and treatment outcomes. Clinical information on HIV/AIDS cases was collected via questionnaires sent to 377 registered HIV/AIDS clinics in Japan. Data on 9,040 and 14,569 cases were collected in 2009 and 2014, respectively. The percentages of cases undergoing treatment were 69.6% and 87.8% in 2009 and 2014, respectively, demonstrating an improvement in treatment coverage over the 5 years between the 2 surveys. The proportion of cases with undetectable HIV RNA in the 2014 survey was 87.7%. Thus, our survey revealed that the 2 of the United Nations AIDS Fast-Track targets, 90% treated and 90% virally suppressed, are close to being achieved. However, Japan appears to have fallen short of the upstream target of 90% diagnosed. Japan needs to radically reform its strategies for encouraging people to undergo HIV testing and to develop a system for estimating the number of people living with HIV.