There has been tremendous global progress in efforts to end the HIV epidemic, with many countries likely to achieve the UNAIDS 95–95–95 targets. These targets aim to have 95% of people living with HIV aware of their status, 95% of people aware of their status accessing treatment, and 95% of people accessing treatment achieving viral suppression—targets achieved by numerous countries in southern and eastern Africa. However, progress has not been consistent across countries, with gaps by population subgroups (eg, men at high risk of HIV acquisition, adolescents, and key populations) who have low HIV testing and treatment coverage.
In west Africa, an estimated third of all people living with HIV are unaware of their HIV status. Key populations in this region (eg, men who have sex with men and female sex workers) have a higher proportion of incident HIV than the general population compared with other African settings.