HIV infections reduced by 30% in study

Providing door-to-door HIV testing and linkages to HIV care, treatment, and prevention services substantially reduced new HIV infections in a study involving more than 1 million people in Zambia and KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Aidsmap reports. The results of PopART, a community-randomised trial also known as HPTN 071, were presented at the 2019 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2019). In the study, the communities randomly assigned to receive door-to-door HIV testing and referrals to HIV treatment according to national guidelines had a 30 percent lower HIV incidence compared to those assigned to receive regular health services. The comprehensive HIV prevention services provided in the intervention communities also included support for adherence to antiretroviral treatment, retention in care, HIV prevention, screening for sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis screening, and voluntary medical male circumcision (Aidsmap, 6 March 2019).