AidsmapDespite a decrease in the number of HIV tests conducted in PEPFAR countries that began before the COVID-19 pandemic, the percentage of positive tests has remained stable at around 4%. More importantly, increasing numbers of people who test positive have initiated treatment, reaching 94% in 2021. This study was presented to the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2022) yesterday by Dr Bakary Drammeh from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) changed its universal HIV testing guidelines in 2019 and shifted instead to using targeted testing for those at the highest risk of acquiring HIV. PEPFAR now emphasises the tried and tested public health method of index testing – testing contacts of the person diagnosed with HIV who could be at risk. Another method is using HIV risk-screening algorithms to determine risk profiles of those in the general population most likely to have acquired HIV, and testing individuals in outpatient or community settings who score highly. It is hoped that this will increase testing efficiency and improve HIV case finding.
Read the full story at Aidsmap.
All Aidsmap reports from CROI 2022.
Source : Aidsmap
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