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Article History

Received: 4 December 2025

Accepted: 13 March 2026

First Online: 19 March 2026

Declarations

:

: This study involved secondary analysis of publicly available, aggregated national-level HIV estimates from the UNAIDS AIDSinfo database (https://aidsinfo.unaids.org/). These data are anonymized, population-level estimates that contain no individual-level or identifiable information. In accordance with the US Department of Health and Human Services regulations (45 CFR 46.104(d)(4)) and consistent with international research ethics guidelines, research involving publicly available data that does not contain identifiable private information does not constitute human subjects research and is therefore exempt from institutional review board approval. Consequently, ethics approval and informed consent were not required for this study. This study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki principles for ethical research.

: Not applicable. This study used aggregated, publicly available population-level data with no individual participant information, images, or identifiable details.

: The authors declare no competing interests.