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Local and national stakeholders’ perceptions towards implementing and scaling up HIV self-testing and secondary distribution of HIV self-testing by Option B+ patients as an assisted partner service strategy to reach men in Haiti

HIV self-testing (HIVST), which allows people to test in private, is an innovative testing strategy that has been shown to increase HIV testing among men. Delivering HIVST kits to men via women is one promising assisted partner service strategy. Little research has been conducted on HIVST secondary...

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Autores principales: Conserve, Donaldson F., Michel, Jacob, Adrien Demes, Joseph Emmanuel, Chéry, Jean Marcxime, Balan, Jean-Gabriel, Choko, Augustine Talumba, François, Kesner, Puttkammer, Nancy
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7244176/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32442226
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233606
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author Conserve, Donaldson F.
Michel, Jacob
Adrien Demes, Joseph Emmanuel
Chéry, Jean Marcxime
Balan, Jean-Gabriel
Choko, Augustine Talumba
François, Kesner
Puttkammer, Nancy
author_facet Conserve, Donaldson F.
Michel, Jacob
Adrien Demes, Joseph Emmanuel
Chéry, Jean Marcxime
Balan, Jean-Gabriel
Choko, Augustine Talumba
François, Kesner
Puttkammer, Nancy
author_sort Conserve, Donaldson F.
collection PubMed
description HIV self-testing (HIVST), which allows people to test in private, is an innovative testing strategy that has been shown to increase HIV testing among men. Delivering HIVST kits to men via women is one promising assisted partner service strategy. Little research has been conducted on HIVST secondary distribution to men by women living with HIV (WLWH) in the Caribbean and other settings. The purpose of this study was to assess the perspectives of WLWH, their male partners, and healthcare professionals on the perceived advantages and disadvantages of HIVST, and recommendations for implementing HIVST in Haiti, with a focus on secondary distribution of HIVST to men by WLWH. Sixteen key informant interviews and nine focus groups with 44 healthcare workers, 31 Option B+ clients, and 13 men were carried out in Haiti. Key informants were representatives of the Ministry of Health and of a non-governmental agency involved in HIV partner services. Focus group members included program leads and staff members from the HIV care and treatment program, the Option B+ program, the community health service program, and the HIV counseling and testing services from 2 hospitals. Perceived HIVST advantage included an increase in the number of people who would learn their HIV status and start treatment. The perceived disadvantages were lack of support to ensure self-testers initiate treatment, uncertainty about male partner’s reaction, risk of violence towards women delivering HIVST kits after receiving an HIVST kit from a woman, and the inability of women to counsel a man in case his self-test result is positive. Recommendations for integrating HIVST and secondary distribution of HIVST by WLWH included coupling HIVST distribution with public information, education, and communication through media and social marketing, relying on community health workers to mediate use of HIVST and ensure linkage to care, piloting HIVST programs on a small scale. HIVST is an appropriate and feasible strategy HIV prevention for men and women; however, more research is needed on how best to implement different strategies for this approach in the Caribbean.
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spelling pubmed-72441762020-06-05 Local and national stakeholders’ perceptions towards implementing and scaling up HIV self-testing and secondary distribution of HIV self-testing by Option B+ patients as an assisted partner service strategy to reach men in Haiti Conserve, Donaldson F. Michel, Jacob Adrien Demes, Joseph Emmanuel Chéry, Jean Marcxime Balan, Jean-Gabriel Choko, Augustine Talumba François, Kesner Puttkammer, Nancy PLoS One Research Article HIV self-testing (HIVST), which allows people to test in private, is an innovative testing strategy that has been shown to increase HIV testing among men. Delivering HIVST kits to men via women is one promising assisted partner service strategy. Little research has been conducted on HIVST secondary distribution to men by women living with HIV (WLWH) in the Caribbean and other settings. The purpose of this study was to assess the perspectives of WLWH, their male partners, and healthcare professionals on the perceived advantages and disadvantages of HIVST, and recommendations for implementing HIVST in Haiti, with a focus on secondary distribution of HIVST to men by WLWH. Sixteen key informant interviews and nine focus groups with 44 healthcare workers, 31 Option B+ clients, and 13 men were carried out in Haiti. Key informants were representatives of the Ministry of Health and of a non-governmental agency involved in HIV partner services. Focus group members included program leads and staff members from the HIV care and treatment program, the Option B+ program, the community health service program, and the HIV counseling and testing services from 2 hospitals. Perceived HIVST advantage included an increase in the number of people who would learn their HIV status and start treatment. The perceived disadvantages were lack of support to ensure self-testers initiate treatment, uncertainty about male partner’s reaction, risk of violence towards women delivering HIVST kits after receiving an HIVST kit from a woman, and the inability of women to counsel a man in case his self-test result is positive. Recommendations for integrating HIVST and secondary distribution of HIVST by WLWH included coupling HIVST distribution with public information, education, and communication through media and social marketing, relying on community health workers to mediate use of HIVST and ensure linkage to care, piloting HIVST programs on a small scale. HIVST is an appropriate and feasible strategy HIV prevention for men and women; however, more research is needed on how best to implement different strategies for this approach in the Caribbean. Public Library of Science 2020-05-22 /pmc/articles/PMC7244176/ /pubmed/32442226 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233606 Text en © 2020 Conserve et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Conserve, Donaldson F.
Michel, Jacob
Adrien Demes, Joseph Emmanuel
Chéry, Jean Marcxime
Balan, Jean-Gabriel
Choko, Augustine Talumba
François, Kesner
Puttkammer, Nancy
Local and national stakeholders’ perceptions towards implementing and scaling up HIV self-testing and secondary distribution of HIV self-testing by Option B+ patients as an assisted partner service strategy to reach men in Haiti
title Local and national stakeholders’ perceptions towards implementing and scaling up HIV self-testing and secondary distribution of HIV self-testing by Option B+ patients as an assisted partner service strategy to reach men in Haiti
title_full Local and national stakeholders’ perceptions towards implementing and scaling up HIV self-testing and secondary distribution of HIV self-testing by Option B+ patients as an assisted partner service strategy to reach men in Haiti
title_fullStr Local and national stakeholders’ perceptions towards implementing and scaling up HIV self-testing and secondary distribution of HIV self-testing by Option B+ patients as an assisted partner service strategy to reach men in Haiti
title_full_unstemmed Local and national stakeholders’ perceptions towards implementing and scaling up HIV self-testing and secondary distribution of HIV self-testing by Option B+ patients as an assisted partner service strategy to reach men in Haiti
title_short Local and national stakeholders’ perceptions towards implementing and scaling up HIV self-testing and secondary distribution of HIV self-testing by Option B+ patients as an assisted partner service strategy to reach men in Haiti
title_sort local and national stakeholders’ perceptions towards implementing and scaling up hiv self-testing and secondary distribution of hiv self-testing by option b+ patients as an assisted partner service strategy to reach men in haiti
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7244176/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32442226
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233606
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