HIV self-test kits allow people to test in private

DW (English)

In Ghana, a self-test HIV kit is helping people to find out their status in privacy without having to visit a doctor. Stigma, and logistical challenges, can hamper testing efforts. But critics say this method will affect the quality of data gathering.

Transcript

00:00 Rejoice, not her real name, is very happy about the HIV self-test kit.

00:06 She works in a mobile phone store by day and as a sex worker at night.

00:11 In the past, she would have gone to the hospital to get tested for HIV, but she can now test

00:18 from home.

00:19 It has made it easy.

00:22 One, the stress of going there.

00:25 Two, the inconveniences when you get to the hospital and running of tests to sit and wait

00:32 and all that.

00:34 So it relieves me.

00:36 If this one can just be done now and come out now, I think it's easy.

00:41 Ghana is battling with a steady rise of HIV/AIDS infections.

00:44 In the first half of 2022 alone, nearly 24,000 people tested positive for the virus, according

00:51 to the Ghana AIDS Commission.

00:53 Research shows that up to 30% of infected people are unaware of their status before

00:58 being tested.

01:00 One reason why this self-test kit could be a game changer.

01:07 Sex workers are among the highest risk groups in Ghana.

01:11 Over the years, the country set up testing centers in hospitals for people to walk in

01:17 and test.

01:19 But many were too embarrassed or simply too afraid of being some to do so.

01:25 So you pick the blood.

01:27 Ghana is now pinning its hopes on the new kit to get people to test.

01:33 If they had to come to the hospital, they have to meet their nurses.

01:38 They have to screen them.

01:39 They have to take the information before they get to the lab.

01:44 And then they screen at home if a person is negative, they would never bother to come

01:49 here.

01:50 It's only the positive cases or the reactive cases that would come here.

01:59 While HIV infections have decreased overall in Ghana, the rate of adult infections and

02:04 deaths linked to HIV/AIDS has remained stubbornly high over the past two decades.

02:11 The focus has been on sexual intercourse as the main source of transmission.

02:16 But needle sharing and poor sterilization practices have also contributed to the higher

02:22 adult infection rates.

02:26 It is skewed towards those maybe commercial sex workers where we're thinking of sex, sex,

02:31 sex, sex, forgetting that there are other shafts that one can engage in or one can get

02:38 it through.

02:41 No matter how the virus is transmitted, the kit will make it easier for everyone to test.

02:47 For Rejoice, the procedure is simplicity itself.

02:52 She just has to swab her gums and then place the swab into a tube of liquid.

02:57 In 20 minutes, she has a result.

03:00 If the test shows a single line, it means no infection.

03:05 Another two lines means there is an infection.

03:14 Rejoice hopes to leave the sex business soon, but until then, this kit would mean she can

03:20 monitor her health any time she wants.

03:23 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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