HIV Self
Testing

More than seven million people living with HIV are unaware that they are infected with the virus.

Unitaid has invested in targeting that group, many of whom are young men, with self-testing kits that provide a discreet and convenient way to test for HIV and open the way to early diagnosis and lifesaving treatment. It has proved a simple way of drawing people who have not been reached before into the health system.

When Unitaid began investing in HIV self-testing in 2015, only one country had a policy, and there were no World Health Organization pre-qualified test kits available for procurement.

Today 88 countries have policies in place, and another 31 countries are developing them. Finding the undiagnosed people living with HIV and linking them up with treatment is central to ending the HIV epidemic by a target date of 2030.

Self-testing also paves the way to healthcare for people who discover they are not infected. They may be referred to other prevention services, such as voluntary medical male circumcision or pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)–which involves taking antiretroviral drugs to block HIV.