NSW Dried Blood Spot HIV and Hepatitis C Testing Pilot: Mid-Point Evaluation, November 2016 – December 2020

Summary

This evaluation uses the RE-AIM framework to assess the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance of the NSW DBS Pilot​.

​Key outcomes

• The NSW DBS Pilot improved the reach of HIV and hepatitis C testing for a range of priority populations and people who had not recently received testing.
• Overall, ten new HIV diagnoses were detected: nine via online self-registration and one via assisted registration in prison. No new HIV diagnoses were detected via assisted registration in community settings.
• There was low uptake of hepatitis C DBS testing via the online self-registration pathway, but in this arm of the study, the proportion of people with current hepatitis C infection among people who recently injected drugs was comparable to other settings.
• Prison settings accounted for a high proportion of hepatitis C DBS tests in the pilot and reported high treatment uptake.
• Treatment uptake for hepatitis C testing in the community is lower than in prison but comparable with standard of care and demonstrates success in expanding the reach of testing for priority populations.
• There are disparities in hepatitis C treatment uptake across settings.