The Transformative Impact of the African Cohort Study (AFRICOS) Toward Reaching HIV 95-95-95 Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa

Neha Shah; Trevor A Crowell; Jaclyn Hern; Victor Anyebe; Emmanuel Bahemana; Hannah Kibuuka; Valentine Singoei; Jonah Maswai; Ajay Parikh; Emma R Duff; Joseph Sean Cavanaugh; Matthew L Romo; Julie A Ake; Michael J A Reid; Amb John N Nkengasong; AFRICOS Study Group

doi:10.4269/ajtmh.24-0249

The Transformative Impact of the African Cohort Study (AFRICOS) Toward Reaching HIV 95-95-95 Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2024 Oct 29:tpmd240249. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.24-0249. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Neha Shah¹, Trevor A Crowell^{1

2}, Jaclyn Hern^{1

2}, Victor Anyebe^{3

4}, Emmanuel Bahemana^{5

6}, Hannah Kibuuka⁷, Valentine Singoei^{8

9}, Jonah Maswai^{10

11}, Ajay Parikh^{1

2}, Emma R Duff^{1

2}, Joseph Sean Cavanaugh¹, Matthew L Romo^{1

2}, Julie A Ake¹, Michael J A Reid^{12

13}, Amb John N Nkengasong¹²; AFRICOS Study Group

Affiliations

¹ U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Center of Infectious Disease Research, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland.
² Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, Maryland.
³ U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Africa, Abuja, Nigeria.
⁴ Henry Jackson Foundation Medical Research International, Abuja, Nigeria.
⁵ U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Africa, Mbeya, Tanzania.
⁶ HJF Medical Research International, Mbeya, Tanzania.
⁷ Makerere University Walter Reed Project, Kampala, Uganda.
⁸ U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Africa, Kisumu, Kenya.
⁹ HJF Medical Research International, Kisumu, Kenya.
¹⁰ U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Africa, Kericho, Kenya.
¹¹ HJF Medical Research International, Kericho, Kenya.
¹² Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy, President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Washington, District of Columbia.
¹³ Institute of Global Health Sciences, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California.

PMID: 39471521
DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.24-0249

Abstract

Over the last 20 years, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has rapidly expanded and made remarkable progress toward the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets to end the HIV epidemic. Nevertheless, HIV continues to pose a significant health challenge globally, with a particular impact on the African continent. Funded by PEPFAR, the African Cohort Study (AFRICOS) has served as a monitoring and evaluation tool for PEPFAR to help guide HIV policy and PEPFAR programming for the last 10 years since its inception and offers a compelling example of how PEPFAR's investment in science continues to reap dividends. This paper details and critically reviews the transformative research AFRICOS has had on helping to end the HIV epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.