Viral Load Suppression Among HIV Infected Adults On Antiretroviral Treatment In Rural Settings Of The Centre Region Of Cameroon: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) set ambitious targets known as the 95-95-95 goals, aiming for 95% of people living with HIV to know their status, 95% of those diagnosed to be on sustained ART, and 95% of those on ART to have viral suppression by 2030. This underscores the significance of viral load (VL) monitoring and suppression as crucial components of the HIV care continuum towards reaching epidemic control. This study was meant to explore viral load suppression among HIV-infected adults on ART in the rural areas of the Centre Region of Cameroon. We conducted a retrospective cohort study on all HIV-infected adults who were initiated on ART between June 2020 and May 2021 in ten rural ART clinics. Patients’ medical records were reviewed for data collection. Of the 2 591 HIV-infected adults on ART whose medical files were reviewed, 1 727 (66.7%) had documented viral load (VL) results at 12 months post-ART initiation giving a viral load coverage of 66.7%. Among the 1,727 documented VL, the proportion of participants that achieved viral suppression (viral load <1000 copies/mL) was 1 654, representing 95.8%. Occupation at initiation (aOR: 0.416, 95% CI: 0.196–0.885, p=0.023) and disclosure of HIV status to partners (cOR: 0.557, 95% CI: 0.317–0.978, p=0.042) emerged as significant predictors of VL suppression. Findings from this study show that as HIV care continues to evolve, interventions tailored to individual needs and context-specific challenges should be prioritized to optimize treatment outcomes.