As countries look to accelerate progress in ending their HIV epidemics, examining other countries, cities and regions that have seen significant success in their responses may provide road maps to achieving this type of success elsewhere.

One place to start is with the six countries – Botswana, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Eswatini, Namibia and the Netherlands – that have reached the global "90–90–90" targets for 2020 set by UNAIDS. That is when 90% of people with HIV in a country know their status, 90% of those diagnosed are on treatment, and 90% on treatment are virally suppressed, meaning they can't pass the virus on to someone else. In addition, up to 13 countries that have a high burden of HIV, mostly in Africa, are poised to control their epidemics by next year, according to the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) 2018 annual report to Congress. That is when new HIV infections fall below the total number of deaths from all causes among HIV-infected people.

"There are some great countries that have reached 90-90-90, Namibia, Botswana, places that are able to do HIV treatment at large scale with truly limited resources but really tremendous engagement of both government and public sector services, as well as communities," says Dr. Jared Baeten, vice chairperson and professor of global health and an HIV researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle. "The places that have done it well recognize that it's not just any one thing, but it's layering a bunch of things together."

Read the entire story at U.S. News. Jared Baeten, Vice Dean of the School of Public Health and professor of Global Health, is quoted.