Montreal doctor develops app for at-home HIV testing

A Montreal doctorhascreated an app allowing people to haveaccess to HIV testing from home. Butfor the time being,it can't be used in Quebec.

The app,HIVSmart!,was developed byMcGillUniversity Health Centreresearcher Dr. Nitika Pant Pai. She said one of thechallenges to eliminating HIV is stigma, which dissuades people from being tested.

"We are at the phase in the HIV epidemic where we can turn the tide," she said.

The app encrypts the user's information for privacy and takes them through the steps ofanHIV test.

It mimics a medical visit, answering questions and even providing a diagnosis, then links the person to a health-care provider if needed.

But in order to use it, the patient needs a saliva sample from a home-testing kit, which isn't legal in Canada.

Health Minister DanielleMcCannsaid she wants "todecompartmentalizethe professions in the health-care system"in order to improve access to first-line services. But she believes it's too early to move forward when it comes to self-testing.

Stigma persists

Montreal-based CentreSidaAmitiworks to support people living with HIV or AIDS. Director HugoBissonnetsays he thinks the app could be useful.

"We don't have a lot of tools in our toolbox," he said.

But he's concerned that despite the app making HIV testing more accessible for some, it won't help the marginalized people who come to centre.

He said many marginalized people don't have access to phones, and many in Quebec don't read, or don't read well enough to understand medical language in the application.

Dr.RjeanThomas, founder of Montreal'sCliniqueMdicaleL'Actuel, screens people for HIV and sexually-transmitted diseases at his downtown clinic.

He said between 15 and 20 per cent of people living with HIV don't know their status, and at least 25 per cent of people with HIV arrive at a doctor in the late stages of the illness becausethey weren't tested early enough.

Thomas enlisted hundreds ofpatients to try the app. They took the at-home, saliva-based HIV testat his clinic,then were provided withtablets equipped with theHIVSmart! app to guide themthrough theprocess.

He saidin smaller cities, people are often less comfortable getting a test.Having the kit and app for personal use means people who are in high-risk groups can keep testing themselves as needed.

"If you live in Sherbrooke, or Gasp, [there is] the question of confidentiality, the question of stigmatization, you know everybody in the village where you live," he said.