The International Solidarity Organization Unitaid announced on Wednesday April 28 that 135 eligible countries will soon have access to HIV self-tests for only two euros. A 50% reduction in the price which should make it possible to expand screening and reach eight million people.
Promote equitable access to HIV self-tests
This Wednesday, April 28, 2021, the international organization Unitaid announced the implementation of a 50% reduction in the price of HIV self-tests to allow disadvantaged countries to have access to screening and thus limit the spread of the AIDS virus. . A system made possible following the call for proposals launched by Unitaid and the NGO Population Services International (PSI) in 2020 to promote equitable access to these tests.
In practice, 135 “eligible” countries will thus be able to benefit from HIV self-tests for only $ 2, as Hervé Verhoosel, spokesperson for Unitaid in Geneva, said: “ Unitaid today announces a considerable expansion of the market and a reduction in prices of around 50%. Thanks to an agreement with Viatris, HIV self-tests using blood samples will be made available for less than $ 2 per unit in 135 eligible countriess “
8 million people affected
According to Unitaid, the ultimate goal of this device is to enable the eight million people who are estimated to have no knowledge of their HIV status, to learn if they are HIV positive and to be monitored and treated. According to Hervé Verhoosel, “ Access to self-testing is a critical factor in achieving the global goal of ensuring that 90% of people infected with HIV know their HIV status “. To which, he specified that during the last six years, this percentage has already experienced a significant evolution from 45% to 81%.
For Dr Thato Chidarikire, director of HIV prevention strategies at the National Directorate of Health of South Africa, the self-tests had a ” positive effect “On the HIV program since it allowed” reach men and women aged 19 to 24 as well as the main target population groups “.
One million HIV tests will be distributed
The fall in the prices of HIV self-tests will make it possible to increase the quantities and expand screening, as explained by Dr Thato Chidarikire “ the lower prices will mean more quantities and an expansion of our program, which will allow us to reach more people who are untested and unwilling to be tested “.
It is in this context that the organization Unitaid announced that two AIDS self-tests (one designed by Mylan and manufactured by Atomo Diagnostics Limited and another using blood sampling, recently developed by Abbott and submitted currently under regulatory review), ” will thus form the basis of a program to expand access to tests launched by Unitaid, under which approximately 1 million tests will be distributed to stimulate domestic demand in eligible countries “.
