HIV home-test kit to be piloted
The kit has the support of celebrity musicians including Jozi’s Bongani Fassie, Leslie and Ishmael.
The test is going to be piloted early next year to people living in Umgungundlovu district (Pietermaritzburg), which has the highest HIV rate in the country.
‘Knowing your HIV status is the first step to both prevention and accessing life-saving treatment,’ says Dr Krista Dong, who heads iTeach, an HIV/AIDS organisation based in KwaZulu-Natal that will pilot the home tests under the guidance of the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s bioethics committee.
‘Everyone knows that testing is free and available at every clinic and hospital, but people don’t want to go to the local clinic where their aunt or cousin might work, or where their neighbour could be standing in line,’ says Dong.
‘A free HIV self-test, similar to a home pregnancy test, supported by counsellors accessible by cell phone, will empower patients to test in private when they are ready.’
Less than a quarter of South African adults have tested for HIV and only one in 10 people who need treatment are currently receiving it, according to researchers.
The home-test kit, designed by New York-based frog designs, has already won a gold award at the 2009 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) competition.
The test will detect whether the person has produced antibodies for the virus. The presence of antibodies means that the person has been exposed to HIV and needs to get medical help.
Encouraging everyone to have an HIV test is a central message of this AIDS Day, and President Jacob Zuma is widely expected to take a public HIV test on World AIDS Day.
However, self-testing for HIV is controversial. In 2005, Pick n Pay recalled a home test kit after complaints by the SA Medical Association that it might be ‘harmful’ to patients as they did not get post-test counselling.
But Johns Hopkins University recently piloted a home test with 400 people in a hospital emergency room in the US and found that most people found the test easy to use and acceptable.
The results of the pilot, presented last month (November) at the annual conference of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, found the test was also 99% accurate.
‘Self-testing does raise some serious questions, which require thoughtful analysis and careful planning,’ according to the test’s developers. ‘However, these concerns must be weighed against the ability to achieve wide-scale testing and earlier entry into care through an option that empowers patients and alleviates stigma.’
Meanwhile, Dr Dong is confident that the test will be well received: ‘Feedback from the community confirms individuals are eager to have access to an HIV self-test, with both patients and healthcare workers preferring counseling via cell phone.’
The development of the self-test is the third phase of Project Masiluleke, an innovative partnership between a variety of organisations as diverse as technology innovators Praekelt Foundation, music label Ghetto Ruff and mobile phone giant MTN.
The first phase of ‘Project M’, as it is known, was launched in October 2008 with up to a million HIV/AIDS messages a day being sent out as part of ‘please call me’ SMSes donated by MTN.
These messages directed people to the national AIDS Helpline, and resulted in a 300% increase in calls to the line from the month that it launched.
Phase two, which will launch soon, involves sending patients on antiretroviral treatment automated SMS reminders of their scheduled clinic visits.
‘We are using the power of mobile technology to penetrate the communities we serve and offer life-saving, vital healthcare information to millions that need our help,’ said Eunice Maluleke, General Manager, MTN Foundation recently when she announced that MTN would continue to be part of Project M for another year.
‘Together with our partners, we aim to help South Africans access information, get tested and stay on treatment. We are using our core product to eradicate the stigma about HIV AIDS and bring down these numbing statistics.’
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HIV home-test kit to be piloted
by healthe, Health-e News
December 1, 2009