project overview

 

Name of Project

Barriers to HIV testing among people born in sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia

Project Status

Ongoing

Ethics approval

Approved by the Curtin Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC number HRE2017-0088).

Chief Investigators

Corie Gray, Gemma Crawford, Roanna Lobo

Timeframe of Project

2017 (10 months)

Brief overview

HIV notifications among people born in sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia have increased in Australia in the last decade. People born in these regions have the highest rates of HIV diagnosis by region of birth and are overrepresented in late or advanced presentation of HIV infection.

Focus groups with migrants from WA, NSW, SA and Victoria will be conducted, alongside interviews with GPS.

• To identify barriers and facilitators to HIV testing among SSA and SEA populations (including differences and similarities between jurisdictions and region of birth)
• To assess the knowledge and perceived acceptability of new HIV testing strategies (oral tests, rapid testing, self-testing kits and clinical testing) among SSA and SEA populations (including differences and similarities between jurisdictions and region of birth)
• To identify barriers and motivators to offering HIV testing SSA and SEA populations from the perspective of clinical staff and general practitioners

Funding

Gilead Sciences Research Fellowship and Healthway Australia Health Promotion Association Graduate Scholarship

SiREN’s role

SiREN held a supervisory role to support the research.

Project outputs and impacts

This research project is a multi-jurisdictional study, involving a collaboration of researchers and community organisations from WA, SA, NSW, and Victoria. New testing options for HIV (rapid testing, self-collection kits, and oral testing) have recently become available in Australia. This research addresses a gap in research and practice, and will explore enablers and barriers that facilitate testing for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia; and in addition, the barriers that clinical staff and general practitioners experience when referring patients for HIV testing.

Publications

There are currently no publications, however future dissemination of results is expected.