Health ministry, US govt launch HIV self-testing services
Ambassador Brown and the Director General of Health Services Dr Henry Mwebesa commended the new service since it takes 15 minutes only for someone to get the results.
The Ministry of Health, with support from the US government, has launched the “Check Now” HIV self-testing services. The campaign is targeting over 30,000 university youth in 8 pilot public and private universities in the country.
The new service, which targets to reduce HIV Aids prevalence by 50% by the year 2030, has been launched by the health minister Dr Ruth Aceng and the American Ambassador to Uganda Natalie Brown at Serena Conference Centre in Kampala.
The Ministry of Health in partnership with some private health sector providers have decided to take the HIV Aids fight to the youth a bit further, this time targeting university youth and other institutions of higher learning.
Presiding over the launch Dr Aceng said that the effectiveness of the new kits has been verified by the Uganda Virus Research Centre and will go a long way in offering confidentiality in the HIV testing services.
“Under this program codenamed “Check Now”, Know your HIV Status Now through HIV self-testing, the ministry will be working with an American-based Abbot Company and Life Care Diagnostics Uganda with support from the American Government,” she said.
Ambassador Brown and the Director General of Health Services Dr Henry Mwebesa commended the new service since it takes 15 minutes only for someone to get the results.
“I hope the availability of “Check NOW HIV Self-Testing Services” encourages younger Ugandans to take the initiative to get tested earlier and if necessary, to get on treatment sooner, so that they can live the longer, healthier, more productive lives they so richly deserve,” she noted.
“Within 2 weeks of this pilot, over 2,000 individuals self-reported their HIV status through a mobile USSD application. 708 individuals proceeded for the standard of care at a nearby health facility,” said Dr Mwebesa.
The Head of Commercial Operations with Lifecare Diagnostics Andrew Bunya said that though the program is free to students now, it will be rolled out to the general public at an affordable fee.
The pilot program targets 30,000 youth students in 8 selected public and private universities of Makerere, MUBS, Kyambogo, Nkozi, Ndejje, Nkumba, Kampala International University and Uganda Christian University Mukono. So far, 10,000 students have already accessed the kits, 38% of whom tested for HIV for the first time.
