Over-the-counter human immunodeficiency virus self-test kits: time to explore their use for men who have sex with men in Brazil

• Authors: Sheri A Lippman, University of California San Francisco; Valdiléa G Veloso, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro; Susan Buchbinder, Bridge HIV; Nilo Martinez Fernandes, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro; Veriano Terto, Instituto de Estudos em Saúde Coletiva da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (IESC/UFRJ); Beatriz Grinsztejn, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro; Patrick Sullivan, Emory University
• Journal Title: BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
• Volume: Volume 18, Number 3
• Publisher: ELSEVIER BRAZIL | 2014-05-01, Pages 239-244
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjid.2014.02.002
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Public Health
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Infectious Diseases; Brazil; HIV testing; MSM; Self-testing; Home-based testing; RISK BEHAVIORS; HIV-INFECTION; UNITED-STATES; RANDOMIZED-TRIAL; PERSONS AWARE; PREVENTION; HOME; TRANSMISSION; METAANALYSIS; PREVALENCE

Abstract

Increasing access and frequency of human immunodeficiency virus testing are critical to stemming the epidemic. In Brazil's concentrated epidemic, human immunodeficiency virus prevalence in the men who have sex with men/transgender population far exceeds that in the general population, but testing rates fall below what is needed to ensure early detection and treatment. Over-the-counter human immunodeficiency virus self-testing kits, now available in stores in the U.S., have enormous potential to increase testing access and frequency and to facilitate early detection and treatment. With the advent of human immunodeficiency virus self-testing upon us, it is timely to engage the scientific community, government, and civil society in a dialog around how to best utilize this technology in Brazil. We summarize recent research on over-the-counter testing among men who have sex with men, raise potential questions and challenges to using self-tests, suggest implementation strategies, and outline a research agenda moving forward. © 2014 Elsevier Editora Ltda.