An analysis of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) model of HIV care found that almost all active members of the military who are living with the virus have an undetectable viral load, Healio reports.

As described in findings in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers led by Lieutenant Colonel Jason F. Okulicz, MD, chief of infectious disease service for Brooke Army Medical Center/San Antonio Military Medical Center, and colleagues analyzed data on the 1,050 service members who were newly diagnosed with HIV between 2012 and 2017. The data were drawn from the Defense Medical Surveillance System.

Eighty-nine percent of these individuals were prescribed antiretrovirals (ARVs) within six months of their HIV diagnosis. Ninety-five percent received ARVs within 12 months of their diagnosis, and 98% received treatment for the virus by the end of the study’s surveillance period in mid-2018.

Of the 793 HIV-positive service members who began ARVs and remained in active service for at least a year after that, 94% were continuously prescribed ARVs. Ninety-nine percent had a fully suppressed viral load within one year of beginning HIV treatment, and 97% had an undetectable viral load at their last viral load test.

“The DoD model of HIV care demonstrates that the goals of high [ARV treatment] uptake and viral suppression can be achieved and maintained in a large health care system,” the study authors concluded.

To read the Healio article, click here.

To read the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, click here.