Community-based HIV Testing in Southern China: Implementation and Results from a District-level Campaign

Background Community-based testing campaigns (CTC) are critical for HIV prevention and treatment, particularly in regions like Southern China where targeted interventions are needed to address transmission dynamics and improve care access. Using data collected during the implementation of a CTC, we aim to evaluate antiretroviral therapy (ART) uptake, identify priority groups for treatment and prevention, discover factors associated with testing positive for Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and evaluate potential transmission-route changes among youth participants. Methods Testing discovery coefficients (TDC) of HIV-infected individuals and cross-stratifications were calculated among different demographic groups. The proportion of patients who were aware of their HIV infection status, and ART coverage were recorded. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors which impacted HIV testing positively, and a random forest plot was used to visualize the predictive factors. Results 15,805 people tested for HIV and 30 individuals were identified as newly HIV positive. The testing positive rate was 19/10,000 and the TDC was 6.8% (30/440). The TDC among females was 11.4% (10/88). The TDC among people aged 15–24 was the highest, accounting for 16.1% (9/56). Among the newly HIV positive, those 15–44 years old were primarily infected through men having sex with men (MSM) contact, accounting for 43.3% (13/30) of the new identifications. The proportion of new patients receiving ART after screening was 96.7% (29/30). Predictors of testing positive were being male (OR = 3.372, 95%CI: 1.578–7.211). Conclusions MSM behavior was identified as the main transmission route among those newly infected with HIV in urban Nanning, Southern China. CTC is an effective strategy, leading to a higher yield of HIV and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) diagnoses, particularly for female and younger participants. CTC also improved ART uptake among those newly identified as being HIV positive.