Project: Feasibility and acceptability of HIV self-testing in adolescents and young people

Acronym	FAST Study (Reference Number: TMA2017CDF-1923)
Duration	01/10/2018 - 30/09/2020
Project Topic	HIV testing and counselling (HTC) is the critical entry point to accessing HIV treatment, and also a means of accessing prevention by those who test HIV-negative. The UNAIDS has set an ambitious target for 90% of individuals living with HIV to be identified by 2020. Adolescents and young people (AYP) have the highest incidence of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa of any age-group, with particularly high rates among women. AYP face both supply and demand barriers to HTC. This age-group generally are infrequent users of health care facilities and healthcare provider attitudes towards young people seeking HTC can be stigmatising and discriminatory. There is also a low perception of risk of HIV acquisition and limited access to age-appropriate information about HIV for AYP, resulting in HTC being considered neither necessary nor important. The goal of this project is to investigate innovative age-appropriate strategies to improve uptake of HIV self-testing to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of HIV self-testing using youth friendly approaches. We will conduct a study to investigate the effectiveness of two different community-based strategies for delivering HIV self-testing to AYP at educational institutions and within communities in areas frequented by AYP, using peer distribution. We will also conduct a mixed-methods process evaluation of the intervention. We anticipate that this study will serve to inform and facilitate the scale-up of HIV self-testing services for AYP and inform on methods of linkage to care through the HIV self-testing process.
Network	EDCTP2
Call	Career Development Fellowships 2017

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
1	Biomedical Research and Training Institute	Coordinator	Zimbawe