Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Aug 1;52(8):495-502.
doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0000000000002167. Epub 2025 Jun 9.

Optimizing HIV Partner Services for Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men Previously Diagnosed With HIV: A Modeling Study

Udodirim N Onwubiko  1 , Adrien Le Guillou  1 , Cynthia Lyles  2 , Kevin M Maloney  3 , Kevin P Delaney  2 , Samuel M Jenness  1
Affiliations

Optimizing HIV Partner Services for Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men Previously Diagnosed With HIV: A Modeling Study

Udodirim N Onwubiko et al. Sex Transm Dis. .

Abstract

Background: HIV Partner Services (HIV-PS) is a vital strategy for identifying and linking individuals to treatment and prevention; however, its population-level impact has been limited. This study investigated the potential impact of expanding HIV-PS to include previously diagnosed individuals and a broader sexual partner network in reducing HIV incidence among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM).

Methods: Stochastic network models were used to simulate HIV and bacterial sexually transmitted infection transmission within male same-sex partnerships in Atlanta. Two primary interventions were examined: prioritizing people with previously diagnosed HIV who were out-of-care (PWDH-OOC) in routine HIV-PS and expanding partner elicitation to include partners of HIV-positive partners of index cases. We quantified how modifications to HIV-PS cascade steps under these interventions would impact HIV incidence among GBMSM.

Results: Expanded partner elicitation modestly increased the pool of partners eligible for linkage to transmission-disrupting services, with minimal impact on HIV incidence. In contrast, including PWDH-OOC led to a 10-fold increase in both index-case and partner pools. However, substantial reductions in HIV incidence required enhancements to other HIV-PS steps, particularly in partner identification and antiretroviral therapy (ART) reengagement for PWDH-OOC. Prioritizing ART reengagement for PWDH-OOC, alongside optimized HIV-PS, resulted in up to 63% of HIV infections being averted.

Conclusions: Our study highlights the potential of strategic improvements to HIV-PS for accelerating HIV incidence reduction among GBMSM. Synergistic optimization of HIV-PS, along with prioritizing ART reengagement for previously diagnosed individuals, will be essential for achieving substantial reductions in HIV incidence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest and Sources of Funding: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Estimated HIV IR over a 10-year period. The panel shows estimated HIV IRs (per 100 person-years at risk [PYAR]) among GBMSM across a 10-year period when HIV-PS are focused on (A) newly diagnosed index cases and their named partners only; (B) both newly and previously diagnosed index cases (and their named partners), but without improving ART reengagement among previously diagnosed index cases within the HIV-PS framework; (C) both newly and previously diagnosed index cases (and their named partners), with improvement in ART reengagement among previously diagnosed persons within the partner services framework; and (D) newly diagnosed index cases, their named partners, and named wave 2 partners.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Relationship between improved index case and partner participation in HIV-PS, and percent of new HIV infections averted (PIA) over 10 years. The panel shows how improvements in index case and partner participation in partner services impact the percent of HIV infections averted (PIA) in scenarios where HIV-PS are focused on (A) newly diagnosed index cases and their named partners only; (B) both newly and previously diagnosed index cases (and their named partners), but without improving ART reengagement among previously diagnosed index cases within the HIV-PS framework; (C) both newly and previously diagnosed index cases (and their named partners), with improvement in ART reengagement among previously diagnosed persons within the partner services framework; and (D) newly diagnosed index cases, their named partners, and named wave 2 partners. Improved index and/or partner participation in HIV-PS had minimal impact on PIA in scenarios where only index cases and their partners alone (A) or inclusion of wave 2 partners (D) were the only improvements made. Improvements in index case and partner participation were associated with increased PIA when previously diagnosed individuals were also incorporated in HIV-PS alongside newly diagnosed cases (B), reaching more than 60% when concurrent improvements to ART reengagements for previously diagnosed persons were also made within partner services framework (C).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . Ending the HIV Epidemic in the US Goals | EHE Initiative | CDC. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/ehe/php/about/goals.html. Accessed August 15, 2024.
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . Partner Services | HIV Nexus | CDC. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/hivnexus/hcp/partner-services/. Accessed August 15, 2024.
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . Partner Services | Diagnose | Effective Interventions | HIV/AIDS | CDC. Available at: https://www-cdc-gov.proxy.library.emory.edu/hiv/effective-interventions/.... Accessed August 15, 2024.
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . Partner Services for HIV and STDs: A Guide for Health Care Providers. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/stophivtogether/library/topics/treatment/brochures/c.... Accessed November 8, 2023.
    1. Green N Hoenigl M Chaillon A, et al. Partner services in adults with acute and early HIV infection. AIDS 2017; 31:287–293. - PMC - PubMed