Due to risky sexual behavior and hesitation in disclosing sexual identity, Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgenders are getting infected with HIV. However, personalized and digitally available HIV self-testing (HIVST) kits, backed by digital support, are being used to curb down HIV cases within the MSM community, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report, ‘HIV Tests Market Size (Value, Volume, ASP) by Segments, Share, Trend and SWOT Analysis, Regulatory and Reimbursement Landscape, Procedures, and Forecast, 2015-2030’, reveals that the Chinese HIV tests market is expected to grow during the forecast period due to rise in the number of suspected infection cases, live birth rates, whole blood donations and source plasma donations.

Disha Goyal, Medical Devices Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “People included in MSM group are at the risk of depression and alteration in mental health patterns, and this is due to discrimination and isolation by external community, as compared to heterosexual men, resulting in reluctance to get tested.”

HIVST availability through digital platforms such as social media, mobile-based HIVST apps, and digital vending machines are making testing easily accessible and affordable, while maintaining privacy, especially to the MSM community who live with the fear of social discrimination.

Goyal concludes: “Along with the increasing easy access to HIVST, government should take additional initiatives in spreading awareness on the benefits of these alternatives as compared to conventional HIV testing within this population as they are at high risk of contracting HIV.”