HIV prevention activities aiming to reduce incidence could be targeted more effectively and efficiently if a quick, easy, valid, and precise method of estimating incidence in populations were available. These are the conclusions of a group of international experts convened to discuss the challenges and progress in the field, with the aim of stimulating new investment in technologies for identifying recent HIV infections.
To tackle the challenges—which include technical and market-related issues—and move towards the goal of having a thoroughly validated incidence assay, the expert Incidence Assay Critical Path Working Group (funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) charted the activities, milestones, and decisions that will be required in the coming years.
Funding: The article draws on some material originally written as a background reading document for a meeting sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health that was completed under a contract between Imperial College London and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Funding agency staff contributed comments to an early draft of the manuscript. However, the decision to publish was taken by the corresponding author.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, or the National Institutes of Health.
Citation: Incidence Assay Critical Path Working Group (2011) More and Better Information to Tackle HIV Epidemics: Towards Improved HIV Incidence Assays. PLoS Med 8(6): e1001045. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001045
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CONTACT: Dr. Timothy Hallett
Infectious Disease Epidemiology
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