HIV Self-Testing Programs to Men Who Have Sex With Men Delivered by Social Media Key Opinion Leaders and Community-Based Organizations are Both Effective and Complementary: A National Pragmatic Study in China

2020 ◽  
Vol 84 (5) ◽  
pp. 453-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenran Zhang ◽  
Qinghai Hu ◽  
Weiming Tang ◽  
Xia Jin ◽  
Xiang Mao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Opinion Leaders ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Based Organizations ◽  
Self Testing ◽  
Key Opinion Leaders ◽  
Sex With Men ◽  
Pragmatic Study

scholarly journals HIV testing amid COVID-19: community efforts to reach men who have sex with men in three Kenyan counties

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Manas Migot Odinga ◽  
Samuel Kuria ◽  
Oliver Muindi ◽  
Peter Mwakazi ◽  
Margret Njraini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Testing ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Key Populations ◽  
Open Letter ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Based Organizations ◽  
Self Testing ◽  
Sex With Men ◽  
Peer Outreach ◽  
Hiv Programs

In comparison to European and American countries, Kenya has been less impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of reported cases and mortalities. However, everyday life has been dramatically affected by highly restrictive government-imposed measures such as stay-at-home curfews, prohibitions on mobility across national and county boundaries, and strict policing, especially of the urban poor, which has culminated in violence. This open letter highlights the effects of these measures on how three community-based organizations (CBOs) deliver HIV programs and services to highly stigmatized communities of men who have sex with men living in the counties of Kisumu, Kiambu and Mombasa. In particular, emphasis is placed on how HIV testing programs, which are supported by systematic peer outreach, are being disrupted at a time when global policymakers call for expanded HIV testing and treatment targets among key populations. While COVID 19 measures have greatly undermined local efforts to deliver health services to members and strengthen existing HIV testing programs, each of the three CBOs has taken innovative steps to adapt to the restrictions and to the COVID-19 pandemic itself. Although HIV testing in clinical spaces among those who were once regular and occasional program attendees dropped off noticeably in the early months of the COVID-19 lockdown, the program eventually began to rebound as outreach approaches shifted to virtual platforms and strategies. Importantly and unexpectedly, HIV self-testing kits proved to fill a major gap in clinic-based HIV testing at a time of crisis.

scholarly journals HIV testing amid COVID-19: community efforts to reach men who have sex with men in three Kenyan counties

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Manas Migot Odinga ◽  
Samuel Kuria ◽  
Oliver Muindi ◽  
Peter Mwakazi ◽  
Margret Njraini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Testing ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Open Letter ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Based Organizations ◽  
Self Testing ◽  
The Government ◽  
Sex With Men ◽  
Peer Outreach ◽  
Hiv Programs

In comparison to European and American countries, Kenya has been less impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of reported cases and mortalities. However, everyday life has been dramatically affected by highly restrictive government-imposed measures such as stay-at-home curfews, prohibitions on mobility across national and county boundaries, and strict policing, especially of the urban poor, which has culminated in violence. This open letter highlights the effects of these measures on how three community-based organizations (CBOs) deliver HIV programs and services to highly stigmatized communities of men who have sex with men living in the counties of Kisumu, Kiambu and Mombasa. In particular, emphasis is placed on how HIV testing programs, which are supported by systematic peer outreach, are being disrupted at a time when global policymakers call for expanded HIV testing and treatment targets among key populations. While government measures have greatly undermined local efforts to deliver health services to members and strengthen existing HIV testing programs, each of the three CBOs has taken innovative steps to adapt to the government restrictions and to the COVID-19 pandemic itself. Although HIV testing in clinical spaces among those who were once regular and occasional program attendees dropped off noticeably in the early months of the COVID-19 lockdown, the program eventually began to rebound as outreach approaches shifted to virtual platforms and strategies. Importantly and unexpectedly, HIV self-testing kits proved to fill a major gap in clinic-based HIV testing at a time of crisis.

Feasibility of Indirect Secondary Distribution of HIV Self-Test Kits via WeChat Among Men Who Have Sex with Men: A National Cross-Sectional Study in China (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Shangcao ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Xiang Mao ◽  
Tianyi Lu ◽  
Yangyang Gao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Sexual Partners ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Self Testing ◽  
Hiv Test ◽  
Condomless Anal Intercourse ◽  
Secondary Distribution ◽  
Self Test ◽  
Sex With Men

BACKGROUND The use of HIV self-test (HST) kits is commonplace in key sexually active populations. The direct secondary distribution of HST kits (DSDHK) is effective in improving the uptake of HIV self-testing. However, there are concerns about various limitations of DSDHK, including limited geographic location, payment problems, and face-to-face interaction. OBJECTIVE We evaluated the feasibility and characteristics of the indirect secondary distribution of HST kits (ISDHK) via WeChat (distributing HST application links and follow-up HST kits to partners) among men who have sex with men (MSM). METHODS From October 2017 to September 2019, an HIV self-testing (HIVST) recruitment advertisement was disseminated on the WeChat social media platform to invite MSM to apply for HST kits (referred to as “index participants” [Ips]). All of the MSM participants were encouraged to distribute the HST application link to their friends and sexual partners (referred to as “Alters”) through their social networks. All Alters were further encouraged to continue to distribute the HST application link. All participants paid a deposit (USD 7), refundable upon completion of the questionnaire and uploading of the test result via an online survey system. RESULTS 2,263 MSM met the criteria and successfully applied for HST. Of these, 1,816 participants returned their HST test results, including 1,422 (88.3%) IPs and 394 (21.7%) Alters. Compared with the IPs, the Alters practiced more condomless anal intercourse (CAI), a higher proportion of them never previously had an HIV test, and they had a greater willingness to distribute HST kits to sexual partners (all p < 0.05). After controlling for age, education, and income, the Alters had a greater proportion of MSM who had never tested for HIV before (aOR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.00–1.68), were more willing to distribute the HST application link (aOR = 1.71, 95% CI 1.21–2.40), had a lower number of sexual partners (aOR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.57–0.90), and were less likely to search for sexual partners via online means (aOR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.60–1.02). In comparison, the rates of reactive HST results, conducting HIV confirmatory tests, HIV seropositivity, and initiation of HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) were similar for IPs and Alters. CONCLUSIONS The ISDHK mode of distributing HST application links via social media is feasible among the MSM population. The ISDHK mode should be used to supplement the DSDHK mode in order to enable a greater proportion of the MSM population to know their HIV infection status.

Identifying Key Opinion Leaders in Social Media via Modality-Consistent Harmonized Discriminant Embedding

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 717-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Liu ◽  
Zhonglei Gu ◽  
Tobey H. Ko ◽  
Jiming Liu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Opinion Leaders ◽  
Key Opinion Leaders

The Scope and Content of the Sri Lankan Constitution: Perspectives of Opinion Leaders

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
School Principals ◽  
Opinion Leaders ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Assessment Methodology ◽  
Ethnic Communities ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Based Organizations ◽  
Perceptions Of Leaders

The Scope and Content of the Sri Lankan Constitution: Perspectives of Opinion Leaders comprises a summary of findings that assesses the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of leaders from the four main ethnic communities (Sinhala, Tamil, Up Country Tamil and Muslim) across the island. These leaders included religious leaders, government officials, office holders of community-based organizations, teachers and school principals. The assessment adapted and applied International IDEA’s constitutional performance assessment methodology to collect these leaders’ perceptions on the constitutional text and realities on current constitution, the Presidency, human rights and the nature of political and economic order.

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