One in three people living with HIV in Vietnam are undiagnosed, thereby potentially unknowingly transmitting the virus. Hence, new strategies and models of HIV testing are urgently needed to reach these undiagnosed populations and help them enroll in antiretroviral treatment, effectively stopping transmission. Last year, USAID’s Healthy Markets project conducted an evaluation of a lay provider (non-professional) HIV testing pilot in partnership with Vietnam’s Ministry of Health and Center for Creative Initiatives in Health and Population. This evaluation found that lay provider HIV testing is an effective approach to reach previously unreached at-risk populations. The evaluation report is now available on PLOS ONE - a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal that covers primary research from any discipline within science and medicine.

So What? Lay-provider HIV testing can serve as a critical addition to Vietnam achieving its UNAIDS’ 90-90-90 goals - where 90 percent of people living with HIV (PLHIV) know their HIV status, 90 percent of those who know their status are on sustained antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 90 percent of those on ART have viral suppression, and help to cover the “last mile” of HIV services to at risk populations in Vietnam.