The Global Health Observatory

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Associated Indicators
HIV – Number of people dying from HIV-related causes
Short name:
HIV deaths
Data type:
Count
Topic:
HIV
Burden of disease
ISO Health Indicators Framework
Health conditions
Rationale:
HIV and AIDS has become a major public health problem in many countries and monitoring the course of the epidemic and impact of interventions is crucial. Both the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2021 United Nations Political Declaration have set goals of reducing people dying from HIV-related causes.
Definition:
The estimated number of people (all ages) that have died due to HIV in a specific year.
Disaggregation:
• Gender (female, male, other*)

• Age (0-14, 0–4, 5–9, 10–14, 10–19, 15+,15–24,15–49, 50+ years)

• Key populations (men who have sex with men, people living in prisons, people who inject drugs, sex workers, trans and gender diverse people)

• Cities and other administrative regions of epidemiologic importance

*The category of other includes trans and gender diverse people who choose an identity other than male or female.

Method of measurement
Individual-level programme data, civil registration and vital statistics records or other registries. Mathematical modelling, such as Spectrum AIM, can also be used. Modelling tools require demographic data, HIV prevalence, the number of people receiving ART, HIV incidence and assumptions concerning survival rates. Additional data from verbal autopsy and/or data from vital reporting systems (and related estimates of underreporting and misclassification) may be used as inputs.
M&E Framework:
Impact
Method of estimation:
Countries produce national estimates of the number of people dying from HIV-related causes, which are compiled and published annually by UNAIDS and WHO. Standard methods and tools for HIV estimates that are appropriate to the pattern of the HIV epidemic are used. However, to obtain the best possible estimates, judgement needs to be used as to the quality of the data and how representative it is of the population.
Method of estimation of global and regional aggregates:
Regional estimates are the sum of the country data in each WHO region.
Preferred data sources:
Civil registration with complete coverage and medical certification of cause of death
Unit of Measure:
Deaths
Expected frequency of data dissemination:
Annual
Expected frequency of data collection:
Annual
Comments:
In the era of “Treat All”, effective diagnosis and treatment of people living with HIV should greatly reduce deaths due to HIV-related causes.
Contact person email:
beusenbergm@who.int
Name:
Michel Beusenberg
IMRID:
2922
Links:
HIV data and statistics, Global HIV, Hepatitis and STIs Programmes (HHS), Geneva: World Health Organization  || https://test-cms.who.int/data/gho/gho-redirect-pages/imr-links/hiv-data-and-statistics--global-hiv--hepatitis-and-stis-programmes-(hhs)--geneva--world-health-organization
HIV country profiles, Global HIV, Hepatitis and STIs Programmes (HHS), Geneva: World Health Organization  || https://cfs.hivci.org/
Consolidated guidelines on person-centred HIV strategic information: strengthening routine data for impact. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2022  || https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1454979/retrieve
2023 UNAIDS Global AIDS Update. Geneva: UNAIDS; 2023  || https://unaids.org/en/resources/documents/2023/global-aids-update-2023
Global AIDS Monitoring 2023: Indicators and questions for monitoring progress on the 2021 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS. Geneva: UNAIDS; 2023 || https://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/global-aids-monitoring_en.pdf
UNAIDS epidemiological estimates || https://aidsinfo.unaids.org/
Spectrum software, Avenir Health  || https://www.avenirhealth.org/software-spectrum.php
UNAIDS HIV tools  || https://hivtools.unaids.org
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