Title: Potential Impact and Cost-effectiveness of Self-Testing for HIV in Low-Income Countries
Abstract: HIV self-testing could reduce barriers to screening, increase the number of people aware of their HIV infection, and ultimately result in a greater percentage of the HIVinfected population having a suppressed HIV load [4], likely lowering the incidence of new HIV infections. Self-testing may be more convenient than provider-based screening, and potentially reduce the role of stigma in a patient’s choice to be screened. Furthermore, self-testing is less costly than provider-based screening, at least for the majority of people who have a negative result of HIV screening. It is therefore a reasonable hypothesis that HIV self-testing may both improve HIV outcomes and provide good value for the money fora ministry of health with a constrained budget. In this issue of The Journal of Infectious