Geospatial mapping to identify feasible HIV prevention and treatment strategies that target specific settings

The paper recently published by Coburn, Okano, and Blower (1) proposes the use of geospatial mapping to optimize resource allocation to eliminate HIV in Lesotho, a small landlocked country in Southern Africa with a population of about 2 million and an HIV prevalence of approximately 25% in urban centers and 21% in rural settlements. In their study, the authors describe a geostatistical framework for designing a novel treatment as prevention (TasP) for HIV elimination strategy (2). They make the argument that reaching the UNAIDS goals of 90-90-90 (diagnosed-treated-virologically suppressed) may be quite dif cult in some rural communities. Consequently, they propose to focus efforts in urban areas with a high density of infection.