Also-HIV: extending a free HIV testing supply to walk-in medical labs in Paris and the Alpes-Maritimes. 6-month interim results, July-December 2019. [French]

Testing is the main gap in the HIV continuum of care in France Despite new guidelines and diversified HIV testing services, the total number of tests does not increase quickly enough to rapidly reduce the interval between infection and diagnosis Since July 1st, 2019, the ALSO program offers a free HIV testing solution, without prescription, in any walk-in medical laboratory in Paris and the Alpes-Maritimes It aims at improving access to HIV testing in addition to existing offers The experimentation is backed by a multidimensional evaluation system This article describes its implementation and the results of the first semester in terms of use and impact on the overall HIV testing activity in both regions For the first six months of the experimentation, ALSO tests represent 8% of all the tests carried out in walk-in medical labs: in Paris 15,583 ALSO tests vs 175,938 prescription tests in 157 laboratories, in the Alpes-Maritimes 4,853 ALSO tests vs 54,082 prescription tests in 106 laboratories The comparison between the second half of 2019 and the second half of 2020 shows a net increase in the volume of tests reimbursed by the national health insurance system The information collected from public sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinics does not indicate any movement of their users to ALSO The HIV positivity rates among ALSO tests (3 0 and 2 3/1,000 tests) are between those of prescription tests (2 0 and 1 6/1,000 tests) and those of public STI clinics (5 7 and 5 4/1,000 tests) Those encouraging interim results have led to the extension of the experiment until the end of 2020, in the Covid-19 crisis context