Photo credit: DiasporaEngager (www.DiasporaEngager.com).
2. CDC’s Focus: Making HIV Self-Testing Simple, Accessible, and Routine
To ensure that HIV self-testing services are available to all who could benefit from them, CDC conducts a range of activities to support and expand the implementation of self-testing:
Funding Partners to Deliver HIV Self-Testing Services
Through CDC’s major funding programs, the agency provides resources for its health department and CBO partners to develop, implement, and refine HIV self-testing programs.
Integrated HIV prevention and surveillance for health departments: CDC’s flagship HIV prevention funding program enables all state, territorial, and local health departments to strengthen current HIV testing services or create new ones, including self-testing programs.
Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. implementation: Through the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative, CDC awarded funding to health departments in 57 jurisdictions to scale up and promote rapid self-test distribution programs in healthcare and non-healthcare settings. This effort includes providing HIV self-tests that clients can take away for themselves or distribute to others.
Comprehensive HIV prevention with CBOs: Beginning in 2021, CDC is providing resources to 96 CBO grantees to implement comprehensive HIV prevention programs, including self-testing and efforts focused on recruitment, follow-up, and linkage to care. This funding will also support integrated STI screening through mail-in self-tests.
HIV self-testing for young gay and bisexual men and young transgender people of color: CDC currently funds 30 CBOs to implement comprehensive HIV prevention programs that include the use of HIV self-testing to reach young gay and bisexual men of color and young transgender people of color.
Conducting and Amplifying HIV Self-Testing Research
CDC works with its partners to conduct research to improve and refine the delivery of HIV self-testing and implementation of self-testing programs. This work focuses on better understanding how self-testing can help increase HIV testing uptake, improve HIV diagnosis, and help connect people who could benefit most to HIV prevention and treatment services. Additional studies and programs sponsored or led by CDC include:
The eSTAMP study:16 CDC’s national, randomized clinical trial evaluated the benefits of mailing free HIV self-tests to gay and bisexual men. Providing free HIV self-tests identified people with undiagnosed HIV and increased awareness of HIV among the men who participated in the trial, as well as among members of their social networks.
The iSTAMP (Implementation of Rapid HIV Self-Testing Among Men who have Sex with Men Project) study:17 this clinical trial aims to assess the effectiveness of providing rapid self-tests and a comprehensive mobile HIV prevention app to Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, other gay and bisexual men, and transgender women. It also aims to assess the most cost-effective ways to recruit men and transgender women for HIV testing. The study, for which follow-up for all participants was completed in February 2022, will also examine the impact of these interventions on PrEP uptake, STI testing, and engagement in HIV prevention and social services.
Together-TakeMeHome HIV self-testing pilot program: CDC launched its first-ever direct-to consumer internet-based distribution program, TogetherTakeMeHome, to provide 100,000 free HIV test kits to anyone who requested one with a focus on Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino gay and bisexual men, transgender women, and Black/African American cisgender women. This large-scale distribution of HIV self-tests was implemented from February 4, 2021 through October 11, 2021, with a goal of distributing 100,000 HIV tests within 18 months. The program distributed the FDA‐approved OraQuick in-Home HIV Self-Test through an online ordering portal built upon the existing TakeMeHome site from Building Healthy Online Communities (BHOC) . CDC also supported the distribution program by designing and launching a marketing campaign that expanded the efforts already being implemented by its Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign. The lessons learned from this program will inform CDC’s future self-testing strategies.
Providing Guidance on HIV Self-Testing
CDC develops public health guidance for its grantees and partners to ensure they can make well-informed decisions on how best to advance HIV prevention programs and services, including self-testing. Real-time guidance: In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, CDC published Dear Colleague Letters with guidance18 for health departments, CBOs, and other partners on how to supplement their HIV prevention efforts by expanding their support for HIV self-testing services, especially where face-to-face testing services were disrupted. This guidance ensured that people could continue to be tested for HIV in compliance with stay-at-home orders and social distancing practices. This guidance also included information to help health departments use HIV self-testing services to support people on PrEP.
Clinical guidelines development: In addition to its March 2016 guidelines for providers on implementing HIV testing in nonclinical settings, which includes recommendations on HIV self- testing, CDC is currently developing expanded clinical guidelines on HIV self-testing.
Convening Partners and Sharing Best Practices
To expand the knowledge base and improve the implementation of HIV self-testing, CDC works in collaboration with its partners to share best practices for self-testing programs. Through funding provided by CDC, NASTAD recently convened a four-part webinar seriesexternal icon, Self-Testing Strategies for HIV Testing and PrEP Access, to provide technical assistance for organizations planning to or currently implementing HIV self-testing programs. The webinars highlight models and innovations from health departments already implementing HIV self-testing programs.
CDC also provides technical assistance to its funded grantees through its Capacity Building Assistance program. Through this program, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene convened a webinarexternal icon on its Home HIV Test Giveaway program, which provides detailed information to other health departments and CBOs that want to establish similar programs.19 Also through this program, Denver Prevention Training Center and Washington University in St. Louis developed a summary report pdf icon[PDF – 273 KB] outlining best practices for self- test program protocols that also provides lessons learned from health departments and CBOs that implemented self-testing programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.20 CDC includes national and local self-testing options on gettested.cdc.gov and disseminates this information through the National Prevention Information Network (NPIN) testing locator tools.
Source of original article: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) / HIV (tools.cdc.gov).
The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of Global Diaspora News (www.GlobalDiasporaNews.com).
To submit your press release: (https://www.GlobalDiasporaNews.com/pr).
To advertise on Global Diaspora News: (www.GlobalDiasporaNews.com/ads).
Sign up to Global Diaspora News newsletter (https://www.GlobalDiasporaNews.com/newsletter/) to start receiving updates and opportunities directly in your email inbox for free.
