On 15 August 2016, the National Center for HIV, AIDS, and STI (NCHADS) and the National AIDS Authority (NAA) convened a meeting with key stakeholders to discuss the discrepancies between the 2015 Spectrum/AEM HIV estimates and the GBD HIV estimates. In addition to NCHADS and NAA staff, members of the Strategic Information Technical Working Group (SI TWG) from UNAIDS, WHO, PEPFAR, US CDC, and USAID were present. The group reviewed the methods and the data in both the 2016 Lancet publication _"Estimates of global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and mortality of HIV, 1980-2015: the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015" _and the 2016 NCHADS/UNAIDS document _"Cambodia sub-national HIV estimates and projection- 2016"_. The group felt strongly that the GBD estimates of increasing incidence and low ART coverage in Cambodia were not consistent with the current epidemic and national program response. Furthermore, the group felt that mortality data from Thailand was not likely to be representative of mortality in Cambodia given the vast differences in health infrastructure and socioeconomic indices between the two countries. The classification of Cambodia as a 2B country (a country with a vital registration system) is also of concern to the group, given that a 2013 assessment found that death registration in Cambodia was less than 10% of expected deaths. The group stated that triangulation of existing data sources such as ANC sentinel surveys, IBBS studies in key populations, and routine program data were consistent with the Spectrum/AEM HIV estimates that support a declining HIV incidence in Cambodia over the past 10 years and a 75% ART coverage in 2015. In order to minimize confusion, the Ministry of Health plans to endorse and post the Spectrum/AEM estimates on national websites as the official estimates to be used to describe the current epidemic and program response.
info@naaa.gov.kh
+855 (0)23 885 129
+855 (0)23 885 279
ភាសាខ្មែរ
English
