HIV Self-Screening and Cricket – Screen, Know, Act

The “Screen, Know, Act” cricket project is a new approach to “demand creation” for HIV Self-Screening in South Africa, devised in collaboration with Ezintsha, a division of Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute, Northerns Cricket Union, and Cricket Without Boundaries. The project is rooted in Cricket Without Boundaries’ 15 years of experience of delivering HIV education through cricket, with a fresh focus on HIV Self-Screening, and a new approach to implementation that takes into account the well-established cricket networks that exist in a Test playing nation.

The project will incorporate:

• Two collaborative workshops, where representatives from Cricket Without Boundaries, Ezintsha, and coaches from the Northerns Cricket Union develop new games to spread the message about HIV Self-Screening
• Mentoring of coaches in their normal environments, to provide support and advice on how to deliver the games in practice
• Two cricket festivals, where young people will have the opportunity to play cricket and access HIV Self-Screening at the ground

What is HIV Self-Screening?

HIV Self-Screening is a type of voluntary HIV test that can be conducted by an individual in the comfort of their own home, or wherever they want to test. The person doing the test collects their own oral fluid (or blood, depending on the kit used), administers the test, and then interprets the result themselves.

HIV Self-Screening is a relatively new technology. It was designed to increase the rates of testing, to increase the number of people who know their status, in line with the 90-90-90 target; 90% of those living with HIV know their status, of whom 90% are on treatment, and of whom 90% are virally suppressed. It has proven to be highly acceptable to all sorts of groups of people, including those who are least likely to test such as men and adolescents.

Why “Screen, Know, Act”?

While HIV Self-Screening is highly acceptable, it can be more challenging to encourage “linkage to care” following a positive result, because the test is not being administered by a health care professional there’s no one there to prompt the tester to take action. There are plenty of different ways to try to encourage this linkage, including appropriate counselling before distributing the kits. The “1, 2,3, Screen Know Act” mantra is part of the wider HIV Self-Screening campaign for this reason. This project seeks to raise awareness of the ease of HIV Self-Screening, but also emphasise the importance of acting on the result of the test, once you know your status.

Why South Africa?

South Africa has the highest number of HIV cases of any nation in the world; 7.1 million people are living with HIV. It is a priority country for the implementation and roll out of HIV Self-Screening. The pilot project is focused on Hammanskraal and Mamelodi townships. With a combined population of 350,000 but with just two cricket grounds between them, Northerns Cricket Union deliver a hubs-based outreach programme in both areas, and it is the coaches from these hubs who were to be the initial focus of the project, taking part in a workshop facilitated by Cricket Without Boundaries and the community outreach team from Ezintsha, before taking the new activities and games into their own coaching environments.