Background: HIV self-testing (HIVST) has been touted to increase access to HIV status awareness in hard-to-reach populations. The Cameroon 2018–2022 National Strategic Plan for the fight against HIV proposed to leverage HIVST to increase access to testing for key and vulnerable populations. We describe preliminary findings from routine program data after 25 months of HIVST implementation in health facilities supported by EGPAF in Cameroon's Littoral and South regions.
Method: A retrospective data abstraction was conducted on HIVST distribution data from 58 health facilities in the Littoral and South regions. In these health facilities, trained healthcare workers coupled HIVST distribution to target populations during ARV dispensation, and to pregnant women during antenatal clinic visits. We described the outcomes of distributed HIVST kits from the onset of HIVST rollout in August 2020 until September 2022.
Results: During the 25 months period, 2425 HIVST kits were distributed, of which 1766 (72.82%) were in the Littoral region and 659 (27.17%) in the South region. Of distributed kits, partners of pregnant women received 57.48% and contacts of persons living with HIV (PLHIV) received 19.42% while only 5% were distributed to adolescents and key populations. Recipients provided feedback for 57.64% of the 2425 HIVST kits distributed. Of the 1398 feedback received, 192 (13.73%) were reactive, and only 175 (91.15%) were retested in health facilities. After retesting, only 20 (11.42%) were confirmed as positive.
Conclusion: Implementation of HIVST was feasible and contributed to case identification. Efforts are needed to improve the low rate of feedback and the confirmation of all reactive HIVST kits.