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NAIROBI, KENYA: A new study has documented how a simple, inexpensive effort to send short, informative text messages regularly to young women's phones could help significantly reduce the ongoing scourge of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in Africa.
Writing in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases, researchers describe the results of sending once-a-week texts about HIV, contraceptives, sexually transmitted disease, and pregnancy to 300 female college students in rural Kenya.
Within six months of the last message, roughly two-thirds (201 women, or 67 percent) in the intervention group had taken an HIV test, compared with roughly half (155, or 51 percent) of 300 women in a control group who were not sent text message.
As well, monthly surveys of all 600 participants in both cohorts showed that women receiving a weekly message sought testing much sooner than those who got tested but didn't receive regular texts (median time: 12 weeks from the end of texting versuss. 20).
Supported with a Sh8.6 million grant from Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada, researchers based in Kenya (led by Kenyatta National Hospital, in association with Kenya Medical Research Institute, and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology) and the University of Washington, Seattle, recruited the 600 participants from four colleges in largely rural central Kenya between September 2013 and March 2014.
"This study documents a simple, inexpensive program to promote sexual health and early identification of HIV-infected individuals," said project lead Dr Njambi Njugana of Kenyatta National Hospital.
"These results are promising because HIV testing is a fundamental part of HIV prevention programs. The majority – 53 percent -- of HIV-infected individuals in Kenya is unaware of their status, and only half of young Kenyan women have extensive knowledge about how HIV is transmitted and prevented."
"Our work shows the feasibility of providing health education and collecting data from young women via SMS. We're hopeful that text messaging programs could be implemented and scaled widely, resulting in significant increases in HIV testing among college students in Kenya and beyond."
"Canada is determined to make a meaningful difference in improving the rights and health of women and children," said the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Canada's Minister of International Development and La Francophonie. "Women and girls are central to our efforts and we need to empower them to be in charge of their own health and their own future."
"In this study, 'I get the message,' took on important double meaning and led many who might not have otherwise to seek important testing for HIV ," said Dr. Peter A. Singer, Chief Executive Officer of Grand Challenges Canada.
"Without knowledge of sexual and reproductive health care services, women and girls cannot plan for their future or lift themselves out of poverty. These results offer a promising example of how Canada a making a meaningful difference to development through its funding of global health innovation."
Grand Challenges Canada's Stars in Global Health program provides seed funding for transformative solutions to global health problems identified by innovators in Canada and in low- and middle-income countries.
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