Background: In line with international guidelines, antiretroviral therapy (ART) is recommended for all people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Ireland. Ireland does not currently have a national HIV outcomes register to monitor compliance with these guidelines. 
The Continuum of HIV Care is a conceptual framework devised to monitor the HIV response.  The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recommends a standardised approach and has developed definitions for the four priority stages of the continuum in line with the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets.
To improve reporting to ECDC and UNAIDS, standardised, nationally coordinated, collation of data was proposed by the sexual health and crisis pregnancy programme (SHCPP).    
Methods: A Steering Group was established with clinical, laboratory, public health, and surveillance representation. A protocol, including the ECDC definitions adapted for Ireland, was developed and agreed by the Steering Group. 
Results: Data for 2017 was collected from all adult and paediatric HIV treatment services at nine locations in Ireland.  An SHCPP representative assisted some services in compiling data. Other services compiled the data themselves and sent aggregate numbers and proportions in line with the agreed definitions for stages two, three and four of the continuum to SHCPP. Different methods of data collection operated across services, reflecting different service infrastructures. 
5340 individuals attended a HIV treatment service in 2017. Of these, 98% were on ART, of whom 95% were virally supressed to <200cpm. 
Conclusions: This approach, which used nationally agreed definitions, enabled a standardised response to reporting obligations in the absence of a HIV register.  Whilst there are some limitations, this pragmatic solution could be adopted by other jurisdictions in the absence of a HIV outcomes register. Work will continue to further refine this approach whilst in parallel working towards establishment of a national HIV outcomes register.

06 / A PRAGMATIC APPROACH TO MONITORING THE CONTINUUM OF HIV CARE IN THE ABSENCE OF A NATIONAL HIV REGISTER