App-based HIV self-testing program created in Montreal detects new infections and connects to care, new study says
An HIV self-test (HIVST) app created in Montreal was studied in South Africa with encouraging results, according to the study's first author and platform creator.
The digital guide acts as a holistic program. It helps participants detect new infections and also links them to medical care and other services.
“When I started out on this journey 11 years ago, there was nothing out there," said Dr. Nitika Pant Pai who is with the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. "People thought I was foolish to believe that Africans could self-test for HIV by using a smartphone.”
But against all odds, Pai says she stood by her vision. The study published Wednesday in BMJ Global Health online shows that compared to conventional HIV testing, not only did subjects carry out HIV self-tests efficiently when guided by Pai’s HIVSmart! app, they also broadened the reach of the program by referring the digital program to friends and partners.
Pai said nearly all of the people who received a positive diagnosis, then went on to seek clinical care, counselling, and treatment afterward, and learned about disease prevention “which never happens usually with our base programs."
“The second most exciting thing,” Pai said, “was women became change agents in our project. They were the ones who came forward to get self-tested, and that sets the stage for greater involvement of women in diagnostics initiatives.”
"They are the caretakers, they asked their male partners within their network to come forward and get tested," the physician-researcher said.
The research was published at an auspicious time, said Pai because the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for more scientific evidence about the use of digital strategies, links to care, and the integration of community health workers into the process of HIV self-testing.
Whereas recent studies have shown increases in self-test usage and infection detection, linking people to preventative care or treatment has been a challenge, according to an MUHC press release.
The findings in Pai’s research suggest technology-based self-testing programs such as this one “could accelerate progress towards UNAIDS targets for HIV elimination worldwide,” read the release.
HOW THE STUDY WORKED
Pai collaborated with colleagues at the University of Cape Town. They introduced HIVSmart! in township populations of Western Cape in South Africa.
A total of 3,095 adults were recruited from various clinics over 18 months.
The quasi-randomized trial gave participants a choice between the oral self-testing program, with all the digital supports the HIVSmart! App offers, and conventional HIV testing.
Almost all who used the app (99.7 per cent) “were linked to antiretroviral treatment initiation or preventative care pathways through the HIVSmart! Program,” according to the MUHC statement.
More new HIV infections were detected within the self-testing group than in the conventional testing group (6.8 per cent).
The research also found that participants who engage in higher-risk behavior, for example, having sex with multiple partners, were more represented in the self-testing group.
“Hopefully it [the study] will inform and set the stage for more initiatives in this space,” said Pai.
She said it will take new partnerships between well-intentioned investors and social impact entrepreneurs to roll out the HIVSmart! program, if it is ever to have an impact on the deadly scourge of HIV which continues to affect about 40 million people around the world.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.