Introduction: HIV is a major public health problem though some progress has been
made globally. Monitoring progress towards globally set targets and data quality is
important in helping policymakers refine the policy direction and further investment
decisions. We estimated the proportion of people living with HIV (PLHIV) who have
achieved viral suppression using nationally representative data and at the subnational
level while evaluating the HIV reporting system. Methods: We conducted a secondary
data analysis of a cohort of PLHIV enrolled into care from 1 January 2018 to 1
December 2018 and estimate cohort indicators over 12 months after antiretroviral
therapy (ART) initiation. We evaluated the concordance between routine data
collected through a monthly reporting system and data from the register of PLHIV
enrolment, and the register of ART dispensing. The level of achievement of the 3rd 90
target was assessed by dividing the number of PLHIV under ART with a suppressed
plasmatic viral load (PVL) by the total of PLHIV under ART. To determine the
efficacy of ART, we divided the number of PLHIV with a suppressed PVL by the total
of PLHIV with a PVL test result. Results: On 1 December 2018, the exact number of
PLHIV followed up in Burkina Faso was 59,755. The level of achievement of the
indicator on the suppression of PVL (3rd 90) remained low, at 22.0% nationwide with
regional variations going from 1.3% in the Central South region to 31.6 in the Northern
region. On a national scale, 83.9% of PLHIV who got a PVL test had a suppressed
PVL.Conclusion: The prescription of PVL test and the level of achievement of the 3rd
90% target remain low. This situation requires urgent intervention measures such as
training and supervision of healthcare workers and improving the geographical and
financial access to PVL testing in order to quickly reach the new country target of 95%.

HIVE antiretroviral treatment viral load Burkina Faso