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URL: http://www.avianflutalk.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=37200 Printed Date: April 19 2024 at 12:01am
Topic: Novel Chinese HIV Control MeasuresPosted By: Technophobe
Subject: Novel Chinese HIV Control Measures
Date Posted: April 14 2018 at 12:34am
Chinese universities add HIV test kits to vending machines to tackle virus' rise in taboo sex culture
By http://www.abc.net.au/news/christina-zhou/9076506" rel="nofollow - Christina Zhou and http://www.abc.net.au/news/bang-xiao/9528622" rel="nofollow - Bang Xiao
Updated
Along with chips, instant noodles and soft drinks,
students in a growing number of Chinese universities now have the option
of also grabbing an HIV test kit to go from their campus vending
machine.
Key points:
HIV self-test kits are selling for $6.20 each and the test can be done anonymously
New HIV cases in people aged between 15 to 24-year-old doubled from 2008 to 2015
About 758,000 people were reported to be living with HIV in China by the end of last year
Three Shanghai universities have installed machines to
offer the self-test kits this month as a part of a pilot project to
promote early detection and treatment of HIV/AIDS in a culture where the
virus is stigmatised.
The annual number of newly diagnosed HIV
cases among teenagers aged 15 to 19 increased more than 150 per cent in
China over the past decade.
As a part of the project, universities
are selling the kits for a significantly discounted 30 yuan ($6.20),
compared with 298 yuan ($61.20) on e-commerce site Taobao. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-13/vending-machines-stocked-with-hiv-test-kits/9644258" rel="nofollow - -
A major drawcard of the system — in a country
where HIV and homosexuality are still taboo subjects — is that students
can do the test anonymously by dropping off their urine sample in the
vending machine's return box for testing.
Students can check their
results online after three to five working days by entering the serial
number on the kit. During the trial period, the $6.20 is then reimbursed
after receiving their result.
However, the Chinese Association of
STD and HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control warned in a statement on their
website that the test was only a "preliminary screening" and could
provide a "false-positive result".
"If the test result is positive, it should be reviewed promptly," it said.
Universities
started offering the self-test kits in 2016 to curb the rising HIV
infection rate among students, and the program has since been rolled out
to Chinese provinces including Heilongjiang, Sichuan, Yunnan and
Guangxi as well as in the capital Beijing last year.
HIV and homosexuality remain taboo subjects in China
Zhongdan Chen, a technical officer from the World Health
Organisation's China office, said the annual rates of new HIV diagnoses
among people aged between 15 and 19 years old in China had almost
tripled between 2008 and 2017.
"Two critical reasons include weak
implementation of national policies to provide sexual education in
schools and communities, and limited focus on adolescents and
youth-specific interventions as part of the national HIV efforts," Dr
Chen said.
"Many of these
students don't want to visit traditional testing sites such as hospitals
and clinics due to fear of discrimination," he added.
At
of the end of 2017, about 758,000 people were reported to be living
with HIV in China, Dr Chen says, but added that an estimated 30 per cent
of people living with HIV did not know their HIV status.
"Due to
stigma and discrimination, among other reasons, uptake of the available
HIV testing, prevention and treatment tools and services among key
populations has remained far from adequate," he said.
"Innovations
in tools and service delivery approaches are urgently needed to make
these services available, accessible, acceptable and of adequate
quality, especially for high risk populations."
He said some other
countries, including US, UK, France and Kenya were also scaling up HIV
self-testing by enabling access to and regulating HIV test kits through
websites, pharmacies, workplaces, and community-based organisations.
A
vending machine for HIV tests was installed at a gay sauna in Britain's
southern city of Brighton last year in an attempt to fight the
epidemic.
The machine distributes free finger prick self-test kits that also allow the users to collect and check the results anonymously.
Vending machines could be explored in Australia: AFAO
The
Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations chief executive Darryl
O'Donnell said it was incredibly important that the testing be
convenient, particularly for those who needed to test regularly.
"We need
to make it as easy and accessible as possible for people to test for
HIV — we want people to know their HIV status," he said.
"Vending
machines are certainly an interesting and novel approach, and it's
something that we could definitely explore in Australia, but the task is
to make sure that we've got the right test that could be dispensed in
that way."
People in Australia could order a HIV self-test online,
he added, but it wasn't something that was widely known and adopted —
and sometimes those tests could be expensive.
Mr O'Donnell also noted there were no approved urine tests for HIV in Australia, and testing was still done by blood samples.
"One of the most important things we can do to better respond to HIV is to increase the rate of HIV testing," Mr O'Donnell said.
"There's
been a lot of effort over recent years to make HIV testing more
convenient; we've seen the introduction of rapid HIV tests that allow
people to obtain a result in about 20 minutes, and there are a lot of
services that are now opening up that are community-based or peer-led
HIV testing services, particularly for those who need to test
regularly."
Source and photos: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-14/chinese-universities-stock-hiv-test-kits-in-vending-machines/9636386" rel="nofollow - http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-14/chinese-universities-stock-hiv-test-kits-in-vending-machines/9636386
------------- How do you tell if a politician is lying? His lips or pen are moving.
Replies: Posted By: CRS, DrPH
Date Posted: April 14 2018 at 8:20am
Chinese HIV protection used to consist of a bullet behind the ear. Times change.