Pilot Study of Secondary Distribution of HIV Self-screening Tests by Women With HIV: An Innovative Strategy to Improve Testing, Identification, and Linkage to Treatment of Men in South Africa

Detailed Summary

Many South African men do not visit clinics or get tested due to multiple real and perceived barriers. Nkangala District has significant gaps to identifying PLHIV who are not on ART, reaching their ART targets, especially in adult men. Over 65% of PLHIV not on ART are men, which is a gap of over 39,000 men living with HIV needing to be tested and initiated on ART. * To improve case finding among men in Nkangala we will evaluate how best to reach partners of PLHIV (newly diagnosed or on ART) with index testing by using HIV self-screening (HIVSS) and linkage to ART start. * Secondary distribution of HIV self-screening kits (HIVSS), whereby clients bring HIVSS kits to their partners, addresses barriers by enabling partners to screen themselves at their convenience and in the privacy of their homes. Study Objectives: BroadReach in collaboration with UCLA, UCT and Nkangala DOH will pilot test an innovative index partner HIVSS strategy in one urban and one rural clinic to evaluate acceptability, barriers, and efficacy of secondary HIVSS distribution in a randomized control trial enrolling women newly diagnosed with HIV or on ART. * In the intervention arm, women will receive counselling on how to use HIVSS, how to encourage their male partner to screen, and 2 oraquick HIVSS with instructions and invitation to return for confirmatory testing. * In the standard of care arm, index women will receive counselling on the importance of disclosure to their family and partner(s) and referral for HIV testing (per South African national guidelines). Study design: Randomized control trial of n=180 WLHIV (90 in each arm) in four facilities (urban and rural) in the Nkangala district ensure that the results are generalizable.

Study Details

Timeline

Interventions