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 a locally funded collaboration site (2015-current). Currently, the Maryland Department of Health funds the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to implement BESURE in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metropolitan statistical area, and is a collaboration between the two entities.

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. It strives to help guide and improve overall HIV/AIDS surveillance and provide a better understanding of trends in HIV infection, related behavior and social determinants in Baltimore, and as an NHBS collaborator, throughout the United States.