Monitoring retention of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the HIV care and treatment cascade is essential to guide program strategy and evaluate progress toward globally-endorsed 90-90-90 targets (i.e., 90% of PLHIV diagnosed, 81% on sustained antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 73% virally suppressed). We describe national retention from diagnosis throughout the cascade for patients receiving HIV services in Haiti during 1985-2015, with a focus on those receiving HIV services during 2008-2015. Among the 266,256 newly diagnosed PLHIV during 1985-2015, 49% were linked-to-care, 30% started ART, and 18% were retained on ART by the time of database closure. Similarly, among the 192,187 newly diagnosed HIV-positive patients during 2008-2015, 50% were linked to care, 31% started ART, and 19% were retained on ART by the time of database closure. Most patients (90-92%) at all cascade steps were adults (≥ 15 years old), among whom the majority (60-61%) were female. During 2008-2015, outcomes varied significantly across 42 administrative districts (arrondissements) of residence; cumulative linkage-to-care ranged from 23% to 69%, cumulative ART initiation among care enrollees ranged from 2% to 80%, and cumulative ART retention among ART enrollees ranged from 30% to 88%. Compared with adults, children had lower cumulative incidence of ART initiation among care enrollees (64% versus 47%) and lower cumulative retention among ART enrollees (64% versus 50%). Cumulative linkage-to-care was low and should be prioritized for improvement. Variations in outcomes by arrondissement and between adults and children require further investigation and programmatic response.

OBJECTIVES: Valid deduplication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) case reports is critical to the utility of these data to inform HIV programs. The Haitian Ministry of Health (MSPP) and partners operate a case-based, national HIV/AIDS surveillance system (HASS), using deterministic and probabilistic procedures to identify duplicate records. These procedures are described and validated based on expert classifications. METHODS: Two samples of HASS records identified as duplicates were selected: 100 pairs from deterministic and 100 pairs from probabilistic matching procedures (total: 200 pairs, 400 case reports). Clinical data from the national electronic medical record (iSanté) were reviewed and consensus gold-standard determinations on the status of duplications were made. False positive rates (FPR) were estimated by reviewing these records, while false negative rates were calculated (FNR) by using LinkPlus™ probabilistic linkage software. The effect of deduplication on total HIV case counts was demonstrated. RESULTS: Review of deterministic matches yielded 99 true positives and 1 false positive (FPR, 1 per 100; 95% CI, 0.71-5.4). Review of probabilistic matches yielded a FPR of 6 per 100 (95% CI, 2.7-12.4). LinkPlus identified 1,491 probable matches among 68,393 records, representing a FNR of 2 per 100 (95% CI, 0.55-7.0). After adjustment, the estimated unique count of reported HIV patients in HASS was 211,885 (95% CI, 207, 293-213, 232) as of December 2013. CONCLUSIONS: Based on application of the established procedures, HASS conforms to the duplication performance standard recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for HIV surveillance.