A review of self-testing for HIV

Abstract

Inadequate uptake of HIV testing remains a primary bottleneck towards universal access to treatment and care, and is an obstacle to realizing the potential of new interventions for preventing HIV infection, including treatment for prevention and PrEP. HIV self-testing offers an approach to scaling-up testing that could have high impact, low-cost, confidential, and empowering for users. Although HIV self-testing was first considered over 20 years ago, it has not been widely implemented. We conducted a review of policy and research on HIV self-testing, which indicates that policy is shifting towards a more flexible approach with less emphasis on pre-test counseling, and HIV self-testing has been adopted in a number of settings. Empirical research on self-testing is limited, resulting in lack of evidence-base upon which to base policy recommendations. There is an urgent need for relevant research and investment in programs, to enable consideration of developing formalized self-testing programs