Title
HIV self-testing in Peru: questionable availability, high acceptability but potential low linkage to care among men who have sex with men and transgender women
Date Issued
01 February 2017
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Bustamante M.J.
Joseph Davey D.
León S.R.
Salvatierra J.
Brown B.
Klausner J.D.
Publisher(s)
SAGE Publications Ltd
Abstract
HIV status awareness is key to prevention, linkage-to-care and treatment. Our study evaluated the accessibility and potential willingness of HIV self-testing among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women in Peru. We surveyed four pharmacy chains in Peru to ascertain the commercial availability of the oral HIV self-test. The pharmacies surveyed confirmed that HIV self-test kits were available; however, those available were not intended for individual use, but for clinician use. We interviewed 147 MSM and 45 transgender women; nearly all (82%) reported willingness to perform the oral HIV self-test. However, only 55% of participants would definitely seek a confirmatory test in a clinic after an HIV-positive test result. Further, price may be a barrier, as HIV self-test kits were available for 18 USD, and MSM and transgender women were only willing to pay an average of 5 USD. HIV self-testing may facilitate increased access to HIV testing among some MSM/transgender women in Peru. However, price may prevent use, and poor uptake of confirmatory testing may limit linkage to HIV treatment and care.
Start page
133
End page
137
Volume
28
Issue
2
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencias socio biomédicas (planificación familiar, salud sexual, efectos políticos y sociales de la investigación biomédica)
Dermatología, Enfermedades venéreas
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85011552250
PubMed ID
Source
International Journal of STD and AIDS
ISSN of the container
09564624
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus