Using Artificial Intelligence to BOOST HIV/AIDS testing in remote areas; more people can live Healthy

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

November 30, 2022 – It’s no secret that today’s global population is one of the most connected and technologically savvy in history. It’s also true that more than a million of us are likely to catch HIV each year.  Thanks to medication the risk of dying from HIV/AIDS has decreased significantly from what it was forty years ago but treatment options depend upon HIV Positive individuals actually knowing they are ill.

Young people are especially vulnerable, the World Health Organization says Globally in 2019, an estimated 1.7 million adolescents (10-19 years old) were living with HIV and an estimated 190 000 were newly infected. Treatment and testing also have barriers including policies that require parental consent for services.

One new initiative created by UNICEF is using social media, artificial intelligence, and geo-mapping to change that.

The U-Test initiative aims to not only connect at risk youth to services and testing to help prevent the spread of the virus but give them the most simplified up to date information on AIDS and AIDS prevention.

Launched in January 2022 U-Test uses an algorithm to find young people on the internet and uses Whatsapp, Facebook and SMS messaging to deliver targeted HIV messaging.  It also gives them access to an online portal which allows them to complete a confidential self-screen questionnaire about HIV.  What happens next is only possible because of the extensive global connectivity available to 21st century residents.

“Those who are at the highest risk for HIV are linked with testing and encouraged to learn their HIV status. When appropriate, geolocalisation technology accurately maps healthcare options around them, connecting youth to the closest services.  U-Test’s technology can also connect users with youth-friendly counseling and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or PrEP, which has been shown to reduce HIV acquisition by up to 90 percent,” UNICEF explains.

Behind the screens along with the AI, are real life health workers providing self-test kits and PrEP for the young people.

In Côte d’Ivoire where U-Test was rolled out, more than a million young people have been reached online and thousands have been tested in complete privacy.  Not only does the tech reach people in remote areas, it means more testing and more early detection giving many more people the chance at a healthy life.