Study design

The “HIV check” kit was distributed between August 2015 and December 2016. The eligibility criteria were: (1) Men who reported sex with men; (2) aged ≥20 years; and (3) able to read Japanese. The target number of kits to be distributed was 1000 kits/year. This program was provided free of charge and anonymous, including the confirmatory test.

The participating institutions in the “HIV check” cooperative study included the AIDS Clinical Center (ACC), Higashi-Shinjuku Kokorono Clinic (HSKC) and two gay-friendly community-based organizations (CBO) in Tokyo, Japan. The first CBO, named AKTA, promoted “HIV check” and distributed the test kits to gay and bisexual men. The second CBO, named PLACE TOKYO, provided peer counseling at the distribution site and telephone counseling services. The ACC was the main laboratory for the HIV test using DBS. The ACC and HSKC accepted HIV positive cases by DBS and collected blood samples for the confirmatory test (HIV RNA test), and provided notification of the results and HIV care and treatment or referral to other medical facilities selected by the patients for regular consultations after the test. The ACC was also the main organizer of the entire “HIV check” study.