Underprivileged countries will be able to access more easily self-tests to detect the AIDS virus, thanks to the reduction of the price by half to less than two dollars a piece, announced Wednesday the international organization Unitaid.

“Unitaid today announces a significant market expansion and a reduction in prices of around 50%, thanks to an agreement with Viatris (through its subsidiary Mylan) under which HIV self-tests using a blood samples will be made available at less than $ 2 per unit in 135 eligible countries ”, underlined Hervé Verhoosel, spokesperson for Unitaid in Geneva.

“Access to self-testing is a critical factor in achieving the global goal of ensuring that 90% of people infected with HIV know their HIV status,” he said, adding that during over the past six years, this percentage has already fallen from 45% to 81%.

Knowing if you are HIV positive or not as early as possible helps protect others and also to seek treatment.

Lower prices and therefore higher quantities

The market for self-testing in these countries has improved since Unitaid began investing in it in 2015, but it has so far been dominated by a single, affordable self-test model - with the other options costing at least $ 1. dollar more, says the organization. The agreement announced on Wednesday is the culmination of a call for proposals launched by Unitaid and the NGO Population Services International (PSI) in 2020 to promote equitable access to these tests.

"Thanks to this expansion of the market, countries will have more choice (…) which will facilitate the acquisition of products and their integration into health systems", underlined Hervé Verhoosel. The ultimate goal is to enable the eight million people believed to not know their HIV status to learn if they are HIV positive and to receive treatment, according to Unitaid.

For Dr Thato Chidarikire, director of HIV prevention strategies in the South African National Directorate of Health, the self-tests have had a "positive effect" on the HIV program by allowing it to "reach men. and women aged 19 to 24 as well as the main target population groups ”.

The lower prices "will translate into higher quantities and the expansion of our program, which will allow us to reach more people who are untested and unwilling to be tested," she said.

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