The GetaKit Project: At-Home HIV Self-Testing & STI Expansion in Ontario
Dr. Patrick O’Byrne | April 27, 2022 12-1pm ET
The COVID-19 pandemic shuttered access to sexual health services in Canada. In response, we implemented on July 20, 2020 the GetaKit project in Ontario, which offers free at-home HIV self-testing. Since implementing GetaKit, we have distributed over 2000 kits, with a positivity rate of 0.4-0.8%. Based on these implementation outcomes and ongoing restricted access to sexual health care, GetaKit is expanding to include mail-out STI testing as well. This presentation will overview GetaKit, its implementation and findings, and mail-out STI expansion.
Learning objectives: (1) Discuss HIV self-testing and its potential role in achieving the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets for HIV. (2) Learn about GetaKit operations for local implementation. (3) Understand GetaKit implementation outcomes and STI expansion goals.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Dr. Patrick O’Byrne, RN-EC PhD
Patrick is a Full Professor of Nursing and licensed Nurse Practitioner at the University of Ottawa. His clinical and research work focus on the prevention and diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections. Dr. O’Byrne operates a nurse-led HIV PEP and PrEP clinic (PrEP-RN) and is the principal investigator for GetaKit.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR: Dr. Bradley Stoner
Professor and Head, Department of Public Health Sciences; Professor, Department of Medicine Queen’s University
Dr. Bradley P. Stoner received the MA degree in Anthropology from McGill University, followed by MD and PhD degrees at Indiana University. He then completed internal medicine residency training at Duke University Medical Center, and subsequently undertook infectious disease fellowship training at the University of Washington in Seattle. Prior to his appointment at Queen’s, Dr. Stoner was an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Medicine at Washington University in St.Louis, Missouri, where he specialized in the clinical care and epidemiological analysis of sexually transmitted infections. He is past-president of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association (ASTDA), and is board-certified in infectious diseases and internal medicine.
