Free HIV testing kits to screen close to 400,000 Kenyans who do not know their HIV status will be rolled out in July. HIV self-testing (HIVST) refers to a process in which a person collects his or her own specimen (oral fluid or blood) and then performs an HIV test and interprets the result. "The primary goal of the HIV self-testing is to complement other existing other HIV testing approaches," Rudolf Eggers, WHO representative to Kenya, said. The self-testing kits come in the wake of introduction of Prep (pre – exposure prophylaxis) which involves taking the drug orally daily. People with multiple sexual partners, drug users and people who frequently use post-exposure prophylaxis qualify for the drug.

Source: The Star May 04, 2017 17:03 UTC