To close the HIV testing gap by putting the power of knowing one’s HIV status into the hands of users themselves.
Today, almost half of people living with HIV do not know their status; among teenage girls in Africa, only one-in-five do. Self-testing represents a game-changing opportunity to reach those who are not willing to test through conventional approaches.
As part of our portfolio in user-controlled sexual health products, we are embarking on a series of investments in the supply of and demand for HIV self-tests. These include a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to halve the price of an existing quality-assured oral fluid test, and a joint effort with the Elton John AIDS Foundation using human-centred design to prototype and scale new strategies for reaching young men.
Evidence indicates that self-testing could as much as double the uptake of HIV testing among populations who have not accessed clinic-based services. In 2017, over 4 million self-tests were procured for high HIV burden countries, reflecting significant expansion of the market.