Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission remains to be a significant problem in the country despite preventive efforts in the past years. In children, mother-to-child vertical transmission during pregnancy is the most common route. The World Health Organization has implemented the Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission (PMTCT) program, which promotes a comprehensive approach in addressing this problem. Male partner involvement in antenatal voluntary HIV counseling and testing has been proposed to be a vital part of this approach. Their role in the process has not been studied in depth in the local setting. Objectives: The study aimed to describe the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of male partners of pregnant women toward antenatal HIV screening in a local private tertiary hospital using a survey created by Belato et al. in 2016. Methodology: A descriptive analysis was done to present the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the participants. The association between the level of male partner involvement and independent variables was also tested. Results and Conclusions The results of the study revealed a high level of male partner involvement in the PMTCT of HIV services at 69.1%. Age of the male partner and the duration of the couple living together were significant factors associated with male partner involvement. However, there was lack of knowledge regarding HIV transmission, antenatal HIV testing, and PMTCT services among majority of the male partners. Community sensitization of men about the benefits of antenatal HIV testing and PMTCT services need to be prioritized to improve their awareness and their involvement in the program.
HIV ; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical ; HIV Testing

Introduction: The Philippines faces an increasing incidence of HIV. Timely and regular HIV testing can be a preventive method against HIV infection because early detection of the virus leads to early access to treatment. This can lead to viral suppression in which the virus becomes undetectable and untransmittable. Repeat HIV testing is recommended to men who have sex with men (MSM) and other individuals with previous or ongoing risk of acquiring HIV. Following the Reasoned Action Approach model, providing behavioral interventions in promoting retesting among MSM first needs the identification of their salient beliefs toward a repeat test. Method: A qualitative cross-sectional study was conducted. Thirty HIV non-reactive MSM from a community-based HIV testing and counseling center took part in the study. Participants were asked questions designed to elicit salient behavioral, normative, and control beliefs toward a repeat HIV test three to six months following the receipt of the non-reactive HIV screening test result. Results: The most salient belief on the positive consequence of a repeat test was having peace of mind with one’s status; while the most salient belief on the disadvantages was investing in time and travelling as well as experiencing pain from the needlestick. Close friends were the most cited normative referent. Accessibility of facilities and time were believed to be the most salient facilitator and barrier, respectively. Conclusion HIV/AIDS counselors and administrators can become key persons in increasing regular HIV testing by bringing messages that address the unearthed salient beliefs of MSM toward repeat testing. The salient beliefs extracted from the participants can provide basis for behavioral interventions; however, a formal test through a quantitative study of a larger sample is warranted to identify beliefs that significantly affect attitudinal, normative, and control factors of retest intention.
HIV Testing ; Sexual and Gender Minorities

Background: Success in preventing HIV transmission from mother to child has been confirmed, however intervention remains difficult in both services and access barriers due to discrimination and stigma. Objectives: To clarify the HIV prevalence in pregnant women and evaluate the indicators related to the impact of intervention on prevention of mother-to child transmission of HIV. Subjects and method: This study was carried out in 5 districts in 5 provinces that implemented the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) Project. The interventions included the training to provide knowledge, skills on counseling, testing and supervision on PMTCT. The data were collected from designed-questionaires. Results:The results showed there are 100% of pregnant women that came for antenatal visits, had voluntary test counseling. The prevalence of HIV (+) among pregnant women was 0,43%. There were 57 infants born to mothers with HIV (+); received prophylaxis treatment. At the time of the study, there were 31 infants at 18 months of age that received HIV test and all of them were confirmed as negative. Conclusion: Intervention on PMTCT was effectively achieved and should be expanded nationally. Communication, counseling is very important to encourage pregnant women with HIV (+); visit for antenatal care, followed up by health facility and strict adherence to the PMCT schedule to diminish the chance of transmission to their infants.
Prevention of Mother to Child transmission ; HIV testing counseling ; HIV voluntary test.

Adult ; Beijing ; HIV Infections/diagnosis* ; HIV Testing ; Health Promotion ; Homosexuality, Male ; Humans ; Internet ; Male ; Self-Testing

HIV testing is the first step in HIV prevention and control, the rate of HIV infection is high and the rate of HIV testing is low among men who have sex with men (MSM) in China. HIV self-testing provides MSM with a new choice and plays a vital role in expanding the coverage of HIV testing in this population. This paper reviews HIV self-testing and associated factors among MSM in China and provides a reference for promoting HIV self-testing in this population.
Male ; Humans ; HIV Infections/epidemiology* ; Homosexuality, Male ; Self-Testing ; Sexual and Gender Minorities ; HIV Testing ; China/epidemiology*

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the application of internet-based HIV testing in men who have sex with men (MSM) in practical application and provide evidence for its application in the future. Methods: MSM who visited the internet-based intervention platform for at least one time from June to December 2020 were selected for the study. The information about platform visit, the number of self-test kits provided, the basic characteristics of the MSM and their satisfactory level were collected. And multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify the potential factors associated with the reporting of self-test results. Results: By the end of December 31^th, 2020, a total of 132 267 platform visits had been recorded, and 3 511 HIV self-test kits had been provided upon the MSM's requests, and 3 237 MSM (92.2%) reported self-test results. The HIV positive rate was 2.4% (69/2 855) and the confirmation rate of positive HIV test results was 86.7% (52/60). The MSM who asked for self-test kits online were mainly aged ≤30 years, had education level of college or above, and found their sexual partners through internet or dating software. Multivariable logistic regression analyses showed that repeat of online HIV self-test kits application (OR=3.50,95%CI:2.10-5.83), guarantee deposit of 50 yuan at application (OR=2.55,95%CI:1.33-4.89), monthly economic income 1-3 000 yuan (OR=1.54,95%CI:1.05-2.28) or no income (OR=1.71,95%CI:1.20-2.42) and online sexual partners finding (OR=1.49,95%CI:1.13-1.95) were associated with higher reporting rate of self-test results. The satisfactory rate the MSM to the service of platform was 99.5% (217/218). Conclusions: The study confirmed the feasibility and effectiveness of internet-based intervention for HIV tests in MSM, which could promote the self-test of HIV in MSM and facilitate the early detection of HIV infection through social media platforms and multi-channel promotion.
Male ; Humans ; Homosexuality, Male ; HIV Infections/prevention & control* ; Feasibility Studies ; Sexual and Gender Minorities ; HIV Testing ; Internet

Objective: To understand HIV self-testing and related factors in men who have sex with men (MSM) in Shijiazhuang. Methods: From August to September 2020, convenient sampling was used to recruit MSM in Shijiazhuang. Online questionnaires were used to collect information about their demographic characteristics, sexual behaviors and HIV self-testing. logistic regression model was used to analyze the related factors associated with HIV self-testing. Results: In the 304 MSM respondents, 52.3% (159/304) had HIV self-testing in the past 6 months, and 95.0% (151/159) used fingertip blood HIV detection reagent. Self-purchase was the main way to obtain HIV testing reagents (45.9%, 73/159), followed by supply from MSM social organization (44.7%, 71/159). The reasons for having HIV self-testing were non-specific testing time (67.9%, 108/159) and privacy protection (62.9%,100/159), the reasons for having no HIV self-testing included inability of using (32.4%, 47/145), being unaware of HIV self-testing reagent (24.1%, 35/145), and worry about inaccurate self-testing results (19.3%, 28/145). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that being 18-29 years old (aOR=2.68, 95%CI: 1.20-5.94), obtaining free HIV self-testing kits in recent 6 months (aOR=8.61, 95%CI: 4.09-18.11) and making friends through Internet and social software (aOR=2.68, 95%CI: 1.48-4.88) were positive factors for having HIV self-testing. Conclusion: HIV self-testing is a more flexible and convenient way to detect HIV in MSM, and the promotion of HIV self-testing in MSM should be strengthened to further increase the HIV detection rate in this population.
Male ; Humans ; Adolescent ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Homosexuality, Male ; Self-Testing ; Sexual and Gender Minorities ; HIV Testing ; Sexual Behavior

Objective: To analyze the effects of unsafe sexual behavior and sexual orientation on previous HIV testing and HIV testing willingness among college students in Harbin, to provide a theoretical basis for promoting and promoting HIV testing among them. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used to place the automatic vending machine of HIV urine test kit in 9 universities in Harbin from December 2017 to January 2018. The questionnaire star was used to design and recruit college students to carry out an anonymous online survey. The estimated sample size was 6 659. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the effects of unsafe sexual behavior and sexual orientation on previous HIV testing and HIV testing willingness among college students. WPS 2016 was used to sort out the database, and SPSS 21.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 60 849 valid questionnaires were collected. 19.1% (11 189/58 605) of college students reported having sex. College students who used condoms correctly every time, occasionally or never during sex in the past six months 58.5% (6 206/10 603), 25.2%(2 669/10 603)and 16.3% (1 728/10 603), respectively. Heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality accounted for 94.1% (54 393/57 823), 2.4% (1 369/57 823) and 3.5% (2 061/57 823), respectively. The HIV testing willingness of college students was 73.3% (44 572/60 849). The proportion of previous HIV testing was 10.3% (951/9 241). Results of the multivariate logistic analysis showed that compared with the college students who used condoms correctly whenever they had sex in the past six months, there was no significant difference in the proportion of previous HIV testing among college students who sometimes/occasionally used or never used condoms (OR=0.94,95%CI:0.69-1.29; OR=1.11,95%CI:0.73-1.67), but their willingness to HIV testing was lower (OR=0.79, 95%CI:0.71-0.89; OR=0.48, 95%CI:0.42-0.55); Compared with heterosexual college students, homosexual or bisexual college students have a higher proportion of previous HIV testing (OR=2.62, 95%CI:1.62-4.24; OR=2.04, 95%CI:1.25-3.32), but have lower HIV testing willingness (OR=0.76, 95%CI: 0.62-0.93; OR=0.64, 95%CI: 0.53-0.77). Conclusions: Unsafe sexual behavior existed among college students in Harbin, and college students with weak awareness of HIV prevention also have weak awareness of testing. Behavioral intervention should be strengthened and HIV testing promoted. Compared with heterosexuals, homosexual or bisexual college students had a higher proportion of previous HIV testing, but their willingness to test was lower. The HIV detection mode with better concealment, accuracy, and convenience should be promoted on the college's campus.
Condoms ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; HIV Infections/prevention & control* ; HIV Testing ; Humans ; Male ; Sexual Behavior ; Students ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: Men who have sex with men (MSM), as a marginal population, has been largely ignored by health service projects. We assessed the utilization of HIV testing and counselling services and its influencing factors based on Andersen's Behavioral Model, so as to provide a theoretical basis for future infectious disease prevention and control strategies and health services policy formulation for these population. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study. A sample survey was conducted in Western China, and an anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted among MSM. Based on Andersen's Behavioral Model, the questionnaire divided the influencing factors into predisposing factor, enabling factor and need factor. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to explore the factors influencing the utilization of HIV testing and counselling. RESULTS: There were 3184 valid questionnaires. In the survey of HIV health services, 82.85% MSM had HIV testing and 64.98% MSM had HIV counselling, respectively. Among the predisposing factor, age 25 years old and over was a facilitator of HIV testing and counselling, and ethnicity was a factor associated with HIV testing. Among the enabling factor, MSM living in urban were more likely to have access to testing and counselling services, and income was also linked to HIV testing. Among the need factor, a high level of HIV knowledge could promote testing and counselling, and a history of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) was a facilitator of testing. CONCLUSIONS HIV testing is widespread in Western China and higher than counselling service. MSM with high-risk characteristics should be identified as a priority in the future public health services.
Adult ; Counseling ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; HIV Infections/prevention & control* ; HIV Testing ; Homosexuality, Male ; Humans ; Male ; Sexual and Gender Minorities

Objective: To investigate the association between the response to repeated negative HIV testing and the risk sexual behaviors in men who have sex with men (MSM) in Chengdu. Methods: A total of 610 MSM were recruited by convenience sampling method through Chengdu Tongle Health Consultation Service Centre from March to May 2022. Data were collected from the MSM through questionnaire survey, including the demographic characteristics, sexual behaviors in the past 6 months, the response to rerpeated negative HIV testing. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were conducted to analyze the association between the response to repeated negative HIV testing and risk sexual behavior. Results: A total of 579 (94.9%) participants participated in the questionnaire survey and 354 (61.1%) subjects were included in the study.For the negative HIV testing, some MSM believed that they had taken effective protection measures (17.03±2.20), some believed that they were lucky (7.50±1.87) and some believed that they were at low risk (8.87±3.62). Multivariate logistic regression model showed that protected sexual behavior was negatively associated with group sex (aOR=0.80, 95%CI: 0.67-0.95), lucky was positively associated with casual sex (aOR=1.20, 95%CI: 1.06-1.35), inconsistent condom use (aOR=1.21, 95%CI: 1.06-1.37), group sex (aOR=1.26, 95%CI: 1.00-1.60), and multiple sexual partners (aOR=1.24, 95%CI: 1.09-1.42) and low risk perception was positively associated with multiple sexual partners only (aOR=1.08, 95%CI: 1.01-1.15). Conclusions: There were high levels of recognition of protected sexual behavior and lucky dimensions in response to repeated negative HIV testing and well risk perception in MSM in Chengdu. In HIV testing and counseling services, intervention and risk warning should be strengthened in MSM who believed that they are lucky to improve their awareness of safe sex and reduce the negative effects of fluke mind.
Male ; Humans ; Homosexuality, Male ; HIV Infections/prevention & control* ; Sexual and Gender Minorities ; Sexual Behavior ; HIV Testing ; Logistic Models