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BackgroundIn most parts of the world, men access health services less frequently than women, and this trend is unrelated to differences in need for services. While male involvement in healthcare as partners or fathers has been extensively studied, less is known about the health-seeking behavior of men as clients themselves. This interventional research study aimed to determine how the introduction of male-friendly clinics impacted male care-seeking behavior and to describe the reasons for accessing services among men in rural Kenya.Methods and findingsWe questioned men to assess utilization and perceptions of existing health clinics, then designed and evaluated a "male clinics" intervention where dedicated male health workers were hired for one year to offer routine, free services exclusively to men within existing healthcare facilities. Results were compared between data from Male Clinics in specific health facilities, the same facilities concurrently, nearby control facilities concurrently, and intervention facilities historically. Costs of services, distance to facilities, and quality of care were the main barriers to healthcare access reported. The number of total visits was significantly higher than control groups (pConclusionsCosts and quality of services deter men from seeking healthcare. The introduction of male-friendly health services could encourage men to seek preventive care and increase service uptake.

Expanding access to HIV viral load testing is essential to improving the care and treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS and ending the AIDS epidemic. Though significant investments have been made in the past five years, many high burden, low resource countries continue to have viral load access rates below 50%. Plasma preparation tubes (PPTs) can simplify storage, transport, and preparation of plasma used for viral load testing. A systematic review was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of plasma preparation tubes for HIV viral load testing. Study results regarding the accuracy of PPT viral load measurements across various storage and transportation conditions were examined. The quality of evidence was evaluated using GRADE and QUADAS-2 criteria. The review identified 16 studies using PPTs with data from 6,141 individuals from 1995 to 2014. Overall the quality of evidence was rated as moderate, with unclear applicability for studies evaluating viral load assays that are no longer commercially available. Significantly elevated viral load results (>0.3 log copies/ml difference) have been observed with PPTs; however, when manufacturer handling instructions are followed, when plasma is aliquoted into a secondary tube, or when PPTs are centrifuged prior to testing, PPT results only differed from standard EDTA plasma testing using commercially available viral load assays by a range on average of -0.03 to +0.08 log copies/ml across studies. Although spuriously elevated viral load results have been observed with PPTs, following proper sample handing techniques have been shown to provide accurate results. PPTs, therefore, provide a high quality alternative specimen type for countries seeking solutions to infrastructure and specimen transportation challenges in an effort to scale-up viral load testing and achieve 90-90-90 targets.

ObjectivesHepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Early detection and curative treatment of HCV can reduce the risk of liver-related mortality and serve to prevent transmission of new infections. India is estimated to have about six million HCV infected individuals, most of whom are unaware of their infection status. Rapid diagnostic test kits (RDTs) could help identify HCV infected persons more expeditiously and thus availability of high performing, quality-assured RDTs is essential to scale-up HCV screening efforts. The present study was thus undertaken to evaluate the performance characteristics of five anti-HCV RDTs.MethodsFive anti-HCV RDTs (Alere Truline, Flaviscreen, Advanced Quality, SD Bioline and OraQuick) were evaluated using two panels of known anti-HCV positive and negative samples; one characterized from Indian patient samples (n = 360) and other obtained from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta (n = 100). Sensitivity, specificity, inter-observer agreement, test validity and operational characteristics of RDTs were assessed.ResultsThe combined sensitivities across both panels for Alere Truline, Flaviscreen, Advanced Quality, SD Bioline and OraQuick RDTs were 99.4% (95%CI-96.6%-99.9%), 86.2% (95%CI-79.8%-91.1%), 96.2% (95%CI-91.9%-98.6%), 99.4% (95%CI-96.6%-99.9%) and 99.4% (95%CI-96.6%-99.9%) respectively. The overall specificities across both panels for all RDTs were 99.7%. The inter-observer agreement was 100% for Alere Truline, SD Bioline and OraQuick, while it was 99.5% and 98.6% with Advanced Quality and Flavicheck respectively. Discordant results were significantly associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positivity for both Advanced Quality and Flavicheck (pConclusionThe present evaluation demonstrated that Alere Truline, SD Bioline and OraQuick RDTs had sensitivity and specificity in accordance with the acceptance criteria of the Drug Controller General, India, the national regulatory authority, had excellent inter-observer agreement and superior operational characteristics. Our findings suggest that certain HCV RDTs perform well and can be a useful tool in screening of HCV infections expeditiously.