INFO:

Reaching the UNAIDS 90-90-90 HIV (http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/90...) targets depends on 90% of people living with HIV knowing their status by 2020. Today, approximately 70% of people living with HIV globally know their status. Recent data highlights that HIV self-testing is associated with an increased uptake and frequency of testing, particularly among populations who may not otherwise test. As a result, the World Health Organization recommends HIV self-testing as an additional approach to HIV testing services to increase the percentage of people living with HIV that know their status. As of January 2018, 41 countries have policies supporting HIV self-testing and 47 others are in the process of doing so. The International AIDS Society (IAS) and the Bill u0026 Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) hosted A webinar on HIV self-testing: The latest science and country implementation in action on Tuesday, 20 March 2018. The webinar aimed to bridge the gap between research developments presented at the 2018 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) (http://www.croiconference.org/) and the growing momentum toward AIDS 2018 (http://www.aids2018.org). The conversation was moderated by Linda-Gail Bekker, President of IAS and Chief Operating Officer of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation. Featured speakers included: • Cheryl Case Johnson, Technical Officer, WHO HIV Department and Global Hepatitis Programme • Philippe Girault, Technical Advisor, FHI 360, Thailand • Musonda Simwinga, Community engagement lead and social scientist, Zambart, Zambia • Nena Lentini, Deputy Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s office in Brazil The slide decks used during the webinar can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12AGyzGxpqByxYtUNayQc6fimD8341yzd/view For more on how to get involved with IAS: • Visit our website (http://www.iasociety.org/), • Become an IAS member (http://www.iasociety.org/membership), • Sign up for our mailing list (http://www.iasociety.org/Mailing-list...) and • Join us this July in Amsterdam for the 2018 International AIDS Conference (#AIDS2018) (http://www.aids2018.org/) to learn more about the latest advancements in HIV research, science and policy.