Uptake of WHO Recommended HIV Testing Strategies

WHO recommends serial HIV testing strategies for high (>5%) and low (<5%) prevalence settings. In both strategies, rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) within a validated national algorithm can accurately provide a diagnosis. However, recent publications show that poor quality testing, and inaccurate test results can occur leading to misdiagnosis of HIV status. In particular the use of a “tie-breaker” strategy, in which the result of a third assay is used to resolve discrepant results by ruling in an HIV-positive status. This review aims to assess the uptake of WHO testing strategies.