Self-testing is reported by young people to be their most preferred method of HIV testing

Self-testing is reported by young people to be their most preferred method of HIV testing, says Dr Lilian Benjamin Mwakyosi. She conducted research on the uptake of self-testing among young people. It matters who is providing the service to them, peers are key and sufficient stock needs to available to make sure people don’t miss out on services when they need it the most. Watch her interview!

“In order to achieve the three 95 goals, HIV self-testing is extremely important. Self-testing is reported by young people to be their most preferred method of HIV testing. In order to improve HIV self-testing access among young people, it’s very important for partners in advocacy and programming to make sure that we create an environment where policies are friendly, including lowering the age of consent for accessing HIV self-test kits, but also making sure that services are being provided according to the needs of young people.

It matters to young people who is providing the service to them. And the most recommended by young people is that we use peers to actually reach out to them. And most importantly, we have to make sure that we always have enough stock available to making sure that people do not miss out on the service when they need it the most.”