The Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS) launched a supplement entitled “Differentiated care & HIV” guest edited by Ruanne Barnabas (University of Washington, US), Peter Ehrenkranz (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, US), Nathan Ford (World Health Organization, Switzerland) and Anna Grimsrud (International AIDS Society, South Africa).
Following the recommendation that all people living with HIV initiate ART after diagnosis, the potential treatment cohort has almost doubled in size. With nearly 37 million people living with HIV worldwide and now eligible for treatment, much work remains to expand access to ART. However, business as usual will not be enough to meet global treatment goals. In the era of treat all, the implementation of differentiated care models across the HIV cascade will be critical to providing quality, client-centred care and reaching closer to the 90-90-90 targets.
This timely supplement broadens the knowledge base around differentiated care approaches across the HIV cascade. The articles assess how differentiated care can be advantageous in different contexts and for specific populations. They include findings from beyond sub-Saharan Africa and high-prevalence settings as well as a strong argument for the inclusion of key populations within differentiated care.
Much needed attention is also placed on costing differentiated care models for the health system and for clients. The supplement brings together the latest research and evidence on differentiated care and highlights gaps that remain in research, implementation and policy which must be addressed to ensure differentiated care is a game changer in the era of treat all.
