NDLI: Community-led HIV self-testing for men who have sex with men in Lebanon: lessons learned and impact of COVID-19

Content Provider	Springer Nature : BioMed Central
Author	Maatouk, Ismael Nakib, Mostafa El Assi, Moubadda Farah, Patrick Makso, Bertho Nakib, Clara El Rady, Alissar
Abstract	Background In Lebanon, HIV is concentrated in both native and refugee communities of men who have sex with men (MSM). For over 10 years, the National AIDS Program (NAP) has offered HIV voluntary counselling and testing through a partnership with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). In 2018, implementation of HIV self-tests (HIVST) was introduced, and this self-care intervention has been further scaled up during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This paper (1) describes the effectiveness of implementing HIVST in Lebanon, and (2) discusses how the success of HIVST implementation has been reflected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods The NAP conducted a series of workshops (July–November 2018) to introduce HIVST services for healthcare workers working at different NGOs. The workshops highlighted that HIVST would be distributed for free, that it would be confidential and voluntary, and that participants were encouraged to notify the NGOs of their results, which would be kept strictly confidential. NGOs collected data anonymously and confidentially from beneficiaries (age, consistency of condom use and HIV testing history), who were asked to call back with the results of their HIVST. At the NAP, data were combined, aggregated and analysed. Results In 2019, the NGOs distributed 1103/1380 (79.9%) HIVST kits to their beneficiaries. The NGOs collected feedback on 111 kit results, of which two were HIV-positive. Feedback about HIVST results from beneficiaries was low (111/1103) due to noncompliance of beneficiaries and the lack of human and financial resources in the NGOs. From January through May 2020, a total of 625/780 HIVST kits (80.1%) were distributed. This period was divided into pre-COVID-19 and during COVID-19. The follow-up with the beneficiaries during COVID-19 was much improved because of the absence of on-site activities, shifting more efforts towards HIVST (449/625). There have been no reports of social harm related to HIVST. Conclusion HIVST implementation in Lebanon serves as an example of introducing a self-care intervention as part of a community-led effort. In order to maintain HIVST services at the same improved level, reorganization of care is needed within each NGO following the adaptation process due to COVID-19, along with continuous monitoring and evaluation of HIVST reported data.
Related Links	https://health-policy-systems.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12961-021-00709-x.pdf
Ending Page	6
Page Count	6
Starting Page	1
File Format	HTM / HTML
ISSN	14784505
DOI	10.1186/s12961-021-00709-x
Journal	Health Research Policy and Systems
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	19
Language	English
Publisher	BioMed Central
Publisher Date	2021-04-21
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Health Administration R & D Technology Policy Medicine Public Health Health Services Research Health Policy HIV Self-test Testing Diagnosis COVID-19 Eastern Mediterranean Region R & D/Technology Policy Medicine/Public Health
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Health Policy
Journal Impact Factor	3.6/2023
5-Year Journal Impact Factor	4.3/2023

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

The role of community pharmacists in increasing access and use of self-care interventions for sexual and reproductive health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: examples from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Somalia

The role of parliamentarians in promoting self-care interventions for sexual and reproductive health and rights: applying COVID-19 lens in the Eastern Mediterranean region

Multi-sectoral collaborations in selected countries of the Eastern Mediterranean region: assessment, enablers and missed opportunities from the COVID-19 pandemic response

HIV self-testing partially filled the HIV testing gap among men who have sex with men in China during the COVID-19 pandemic: results from an online survey.

Evidence synthesis to policy: development and implementation of an impact-oriented approach from the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Public health research priorities for WHO on COVID-19 in the South-East Asia Region: results of a prioritization survey

Lessons learnt while designing and conducting a longitudinal study from the first Italian COVID-19 pandemic wave up to 3 years

Building Resilient and Responsive Health Research Systems:Responses and the Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Sexual and reproductive health self-care interventions in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: findings from a cross-sectional values and preferences survey to inform WHO normative guidance on self-care interventions

Community-led HIV self-testing for men who have sex with men in Lebanon: lessons learned and impact of COVID-19

Similar Documents

The role of community pharmacists in increasing access and use of self-care interventions for sexual and reproductive health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: examples from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Somalia

The role of parliamentarians in promoting self-care interventions for sexual and reproductive health and rights: applying COVID-19 lens in the Eastern Mediterranean region

Multi-sectoral collaborations in selected countries of the Eastern Mediterranean region: assessment, enablers and missed opportunities from the COVID-19 pandemic response

HIV self-testing partially filled the HIV testing gap among men who have sex with men in China during the COVID-19 pandemic: results from an online survey.

Evidence synthesis to policy: development and implementation of an impact-oriented approach from the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Public health research priorities for WHO on COVID-19 in the South-East Asia Region: results of a prioritization survey

Lessons learnt while designing and conducting a longitudinal study from the first Italian COVID-19 pandemic wave up to 3 years

Building Resilient and Responsive Health Research Systems:Responses and the Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Sexual and reproductive health self-care interventions in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: findings from a cross-sectional values and preferences survey to inform WHO normative guidance on self-care interventions

Community-led HIV self-testing for men who have sex with men in Lebanon: lessons learned and impact of COVID-19