Reaching priority populations with different HIV self-testing distribution models in South Africa: an analysis of programme data.

Summary: Getting men to visit a clinic for a check-up is a universal challenge, and in South Africa, this hesitation has left a dangerous gap in HIV testing among young men. To fix this, health programs stopped waiting for men to come to the clinic and instead took the tests to where the men were.

In a massive drive distributing over one million HIV self-test kits, researchers found that handing out kits at bus stations, workplaces, and community "hotspots" was incredibly effective. By moving testing out of hospitals and into daily life, the program successfully reached hundreds of thousands of men, many of whom had never tested before or hadn't checked their status in years.