Grant: Operating Grant - PA: HIV/AIDS Bridge Funding - Biomedical/Clinical Stream

Targeted screening of at risk individuals is a proven cost effective strategy. Vulnerable at risk populations are difficult to follow up, so that regular screening for all co-infections and HIV is often not conducted in them. Due to the asymptomatic nature of early infections and the lack of regular testing, a vast majority of affected individuals are living with un-diagnosed infection. Early diagnosis and early treatment are proven to reduce morbidity and mortality, health care costs and transmission. Recently developed multiplex strategy makes it possible to inexpensively test individuals for several biomarkers for multiple infections with just a single drop of blood, with immediate results precluding the need for follow-up visits. MultiploTM (MedMira Inc, Halifax, Canada), is one such multiplex point-of-care device that detects four infections (i.e., HIV, HBV, HCV and Syphilis) with a small 5 micro-litre finger stick blood sample in 5 minutes.In this proposal, we will investigate whether introducing MultiploTM as a first line screening assay helps impact: a) health care management of patients; b) clinical decision making by providers; c) improve estimates of co-prevalence; and lastly, d) offer cost and time savings to the health care systems.