A strategy for HIV self-screening using a mobile application developed by a Canadian research team has won global recognition. The app describes a home testing kit, how to use it, how to interpret results and provides links for counselling.
Strategy uses internet guidance
“It walks anyone who would like to self-test through the process using the internet and the self-testing kit,” says Dr. Nitika Pant Pai, an epidemiologist and assistant professor of medicine at McGill University and leader of the research team that developed the tool.
The kit has been approved and is currently available in the United States for about $40. Pant Pai’s application would give users access to an interactive website, videos and a round-the-clock help line. She hopes that aid and development agencies will use the tool to develop the same support and provide it in countries in Africa and Asia. She suggests they could subsidize the cost of the kit and app to make it affordable for populations there.
Self-testing could reduce the spread of HIV
Because of the stigma, some people in those countries are reluctant to go to clinics for an HIV test. Pant Pai thinks the self-testing option could help people get on anti-viral medication and take other precautions to reduce the spread of HIV in the community.
The $30,000 Accelerating Science Award was bestowed on the research team in Washington, DC last week. Pant Pai says it inspires to further her research and develop more innovations in the field of HIV.
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