Indicator-condition-guided HIV testing in rural DRC.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: HIV testing services are a key component of the 95-95-95-0 goals. In many parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo the availability of test kits is limited for multiple reasons. Targeted testing of patients with HIV indicator conditions is therefore the only feasible option in these settings. METHODS: We introduced an indicator condition-guided HIV testing project in the Emergency Room of the Hôpital Géneral de Référence de Kikwit, DRC. RESULTS: We screened 1274 patients for indicator condition. In 94 (7.4%) patients, the treating physician diagnosed at least one HIV indicator. 34 (36.2%) tested HIV-positive (2.7% of screened patients). 52% of the newly diagnosed patients were lost to follow-up two months after the first diagnosis of HIV. CONCLUSION: In a resource-limited setting with insufficient availability of HIV-Tests, indicator-triggered testing is a useful tool to find a high number of HIV-positive patients. Loss to follow-up is one of the major challenges.