Interested in researching this? Contact Brendan Harney: [email protected].

Self-testing for blood borne viruses and sexually transmissible infections (STIs) is recommended by the World Health Organization as a way to overcome barriers to testing among key population groups.

In an Australian context, HIV self-testing is now available, however implementation and uptake has been suboptimal. Self-testing options for hepatitis C and syphilis exist, however there is a lack of Australian research on these, including the perspectives of the key population groups affected who are people who inject drugs and gay and bisexual men.

Burnet is leading a range of studies related to self-testing which will generate vital evidence to inform the upscale and implementation of self-testing in an Australian context. These include:

• Designing, conducting, and analyzing surveys on hepatitis C self-testing among people who inject drugs
• Human-centered design research on digital platforms for HIV self-testing
• Designing and conducting discrete choice experiments on syphilis self-testing for gay and bisexual men
• Undertaking interviews with these people and other key stakeholders to gain an understanding of how self-testing may be integrated into existing services

Timeline

2022⁠–Ongoing

Want to undertake this research? Contact Brendan Harney: [email protected].