National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Center for Infectious Disease Control, P.O. Box 1, Bilthoven, 3720 BA, the Netherlands.
Amsterdam University Medical Center, Location VUMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
AIDS Res Ther. 2023 Jun 22;20(1):39. doi: 10.1186/s12981-023-00529-9.
In 2016 the WHO declared HIV self-testing and self-sampling an effective and safe test option that can reduce testing barriers. HIV self-tests and self-sampling kits (HIVST/HIVSS) are available for purchase at Dutch community pharmacies since 2019. We investigated the availability and accessibility of HIVST/HIVSS in community pharmacies, and factors associated with test availability.
An online survey among all Dutch community pharmacies (n = 1,987) was conducted between April and June 2021. Availability of HIVST/HIVSS and experiences of pharmacists with the test offer were analyzed with descriptive statistics. The association of pharmacy and pharmacists' characteristics with HIVST/HIVSS availability was explored by logistic regression analysis.
In total, 465 pharmacists completed the questionnaire. Of the responding pharmacists, 6.2% (n = 29) offered HIVST/HIVSS. The majority (82.8%) sold between 0 and 20 tests per year. In total, pharmacies sold an estimated 370 HIVST/HIVSS per year. Pharmacies having HIVST/HIVSS available were less often located in moderately-urbanized to rural neighborhoods (OR 0.35, 95%CI 0.16-0.77 versus highly-urbanized), and were less often located in moderate-to-low SES neighborhoods (OR 0.40, 95%CI 0.18-0.88 versus high-SES). Reasons for not offering HIVST/HIVSS by pharmacists were no or little demand (69.3%), and not being familiar with these tests (17.4%). 52% of the pharmacists provided information about testing to test buyers. Reported options to improve the test offer were giving advice about (performing) the test to test buyers (72.4%), placing tests visible on the counter (51.7%), and advertisement (37.9%).
HIVST/HIVSS have a limited practical availability in Dutch community pharmacies since their introduction in 2019, especially in lower-urbanized and lower-SES areas. Further research is needed to explore how to expand access to HIVST/HIVSS through community pharmacies in the Netherlands, and how to tailor it to the needs of pharmacy clients.
2016 年，世界卫生组织宣布 HIV 自我检测和自我采样是一种有效和安全的检测选择，可以减少检测障碍。自 2019 年以来，荷兰社区药店可购买 HIV 自我检测和自我采样试剂盒（HIVST/HIVSS）。我们调查了社区药店中 HIVST/HIVSS 的可及性和可用性，以及与测试可用性相关的因素。
2021 年 4 月至 6 月期间，对所有荷兰社区药店（n=1987）进行了在线调查。使用描述性统计分析 HIVST/HIVSS 的可用性和药剂师对检测服务的经验。通过逻辑回归分析探讨了药店和药剂师特征与 HIVST/HIVSS 可用性的关联。
共有 465 名药剂师完成了问卷。在回答问题的药剂师中，有 6.2%（n=29）提供 HIVST/HIVSS。大多数（82.8%）每年销售 0-20 次检测。总的来说，药店每年销售大约 370 次 HIVST/HIVSS。有 HIVST/HIVSS 供应的药店较少位于中等城市化到农村地区（OR 0.35，95%CI 0.16-0.77 与高度城市化地区相比），也较少位于中等 SES 到低 SES 地区（OR 0.40，95%CI 0.18-0.88 与高 SES 地区相比）。药剂师不提供 HIVST/HIVSS 的原因是需求不大（69.3%）或对这些测试不熟悉（17.4%）。52%的药剂师向检测购买者提供有关检测的信息。为改善检测服务而提出的建议包括向检测购买者提供有关（进行）检测的建议（72.4%）、将检测放在柜台显眼位置（51.7%）和广告宣传（37.9%）。
自 2019 年引入 HIVST/HIVSS 以来，它们在荷兰社区药店的实际应用有限，尤其是在城市化程度较低和社会经济地位较低的地区。需要进一步研究如何通过荷兰社区药店扩大 HIVST/HIVSS 的获取途径，以及如何根据药店客户的需求调整它。
