The National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) system is conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to measure HIV prevalence, HIV risk behaviors, HIV testing behaviors, and exposure to prevention services over time among persons at high risk for transmission.
The Behavioral Surveillance Research Study, or BESURE, has been conducted in Baltimore since 2004 as a participating site of NHBS (2004-2015) and locally funded collaborative site (2015-2018). BESURE is a partnership with the Maryland Department of Health and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. BESURE implemented in Baltimore City and six surrounding counties: Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, and Queen Anne’s. These communities make up the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metropolitan statistical area.
BESURE has become one of the key sources of information on the health and well-being of Baltimore residents. BESURE is an annual survey on social issues, health, and health services in Baltimore. The information collected guides HIV prevention, counseling and testing services in Baltimore. These data provide a better understanding of trends in HIV infection, access to healthcare, use of HIV prevention and HIV care and treatment services, and contextual factors related to HIV in Baltimore, and as an NHBS site, throughout the United States.