The aim of this abstract is to describe how recent research in Kenya and South Africa may
inform the design of social marketing campaigns to introduce oral HIV self-testing in these
countries and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.
Increasing HIV testing in sub-Saharan Africa, which carries 64% of the global HIV burden, is
of critical importance (Bateganya et al., 2007). It is estimated that 19 million of the 35 million
people living with HIV today (54%) do not know that they have the virus (UNAIDS, 2014).
In Kenya, 72% of people have ever tested for HIV (KAIS, 2012), while in South Africa, only
65.5% of the adult population have ever received an HIV test and knows their status (Shisana
et al., 2014). Increased HIV testing facilitates earlier initiation of antiretroviral treatment
(ART) which has been shown to dramatically reduce the risk of HIV transmission from a HIV
positive person to uninfected sexual partners (Cohen, et al., 2011).
Preliminary research suggests that HIV oral self-testing is a viable and acceptable solution to
increasing HIV testing uptake in the African context (Choko et al., 2011; Kalibala, 2011).
An HIV self-test kit allows individuals to test themselves using an oral swab, at a time and
location convenient to them, and provides results within minutes (Pai et al., 2013).
The research described here, which used both qualitative and quantitative methods, was
conducted by Population Services International (PSI), in collaboration with Ipsos Public
Affairs (Kenya) and the Centre for HIV and AIDS Prevention Studies (South Africa). In both
Kenya and South Africa, these study findings are being used to inform the design of pilot
projects for HIV self-testing. Findings have also informed the development of HIV selftesting
research in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi, including randomized trials to evaluate
the impact of HIV self-testing