Over-the-counter human immunodeficiency virus self-test kits: time to explore their use for men who have sex with men in Brazil.
Increasing access and frequency of human immunodeficiency virus testing are critical to stemming the epidemic. In Brazil's concentrated epidemic, human immunodeficiency virus prevalence in the men who have sex with men/transgender population far exceeds that in the general population, but testing rates fall below what is needed to ensure early detection and treatment. Over-the-counter human immunodeficiency virus self-testing kits, now available in stores in the U.S., have enormous potential to increase testing access and frequency and to facilitate early detection and treatment. With the advent of human immunodeficiency virus self-testing upon us, it is timely to engage the scientific community, government, and civil society in a dialog around how to best utilize this technology in Brazil. We summarize recent research on over-the-counter testing among men who have sex with men, raise potential questions and challenges to using self-tests, suggest implementation strategies, and outline a research agenda moving forward.
University of California, San Francisco, Center for Aids Prevention Studies, Department of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Sheri A
SA
Lippman
Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Valdiléa G
VG
Veloso
Bridge HIV, San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Susan
S
Buchbinder
Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Nilo Martinez
NM
Fernandes
Instituto de Estudos em Saúde Coletiva da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (IESC/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Veriano
V
Terto
Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Patrick S
PS
Sullivan
Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Electronic address: gbeatriz@ipec.fiocruz.br.
Beatriz
B
Grinsztejn
D001938:Brazil; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D012648:Self Care
D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic
Brazil; HIV testing; Home-based testing; MSM; Self-testing