Peter Cherutich of the Kenyan Ministry of Health and the University of Washington presented the findings of a cluster randomised trial, conducted at 18 rural and urban voluntary counselling and testing facilities across Kenya. One in twenty Kenyans are living with HIV but half are not aware of their infection.
The researchers aimed to find out whether providing partner services to sexual partners of people newly diagnosed with HIV could result in more sexual partners getting tested and linked to medical care.
In the nine facilities randomised to receive the intervention, counsellors were trained to deliver partner notification services. This involved collecting a detailed sexual history from individuals who were newly diagnosed with HIV and asking them for permission to contact sexual partners from the past three years. Women at risk of intimate partner violence were not asked for details of their partners.
Healthcare workers contacted the partners by phone within 48 hours. They engaged the partner in a discussion about their sexual health but did not disclose that the person was being approached because their name had been given by a sexual partner – early experience showed that some people would insistently ask to know who the index case was.
Staff encouraged the partner to attend a convenient testing facility. When this was not possible, staff arranged to meet the partner and carried out an HIV test themselves. If the partner tested positive, support with linkage to care was provided.
In the nine facilities randomised to the control arm, provision of partner notification was delayed for six weeks. In the meantime, newly diagnosed individuals were encouraged to disclose to their partners and advise them to get tested.
Partner notification feasible and effective in African settings
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