(P112) Expanding STI testing to private pharmacies in Kenya: pharmacy provider perceptions of acceptability, feasibility, and costs

Background: In Kenya, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a major public health concern with up to 15% of participants in some PrEP studies testing positive for curable STIs. Expanding STI testing to private pharmacies could potentially mitigate barriers clients face accessing testing services in public-sector testing settings (e.g., shorter opening hours) and increase identification of asymptomatic cases. We sought to understand pharmacy providers’ perceptions of delivering STI testing (with samples self-collected at the pharmacy and couriered to a laboratory for testing).





Methods: At 20 private pharmacies in Kisumu County, we administered a cross-sectional questionnaire to pharmacy providers. Providers indicated their level of agreement (on a 5-point Likert scale) with statements about providing STI testing at private pharmacies that assessed different component constructs of acceptability (e.g., affective attitude) using the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA) and items of feasibility using the Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM). Additionally, providers reported the minimum amount they would be willing to charge clients for the provision of STI testing services, if the Ministry of Health supplied the testing kits and covered the laboratory fees.





Results: Between May and June 2022, 40 pharmacy providers completed the questionnaire; of whom, 42% (17/40) were pharmacy owners, 40% (16/40) were female, and the median time in profession was 6 years (IQR 4-10). Nearly all providers (38/40) liked the idea of pharmacy-delivered STI testing (TFA-affective attitude), all (40/40) agreed that it would be a good way to reach people at risk of HIV infection (TFA-perceived effectiveness), and most (36/40) believed that it would be doable (FIM: feasibility), Fig. 1. Additionally, most providers did not think it would be hard to deliver STI testing (38/40, TFA-burden) or that it would interfere with their other priorities (37/40, TFA-opportunity cost). The median minimum amount providers would charge clients per STI test was $1.82 USD (IQR $1.42-2.84).





Conclusions: Kenyan pharmacy providers anticipated that STI testing would be acceptable and feasible to implement at private pharmacies in Kenya. Additional research is needed to assess the actual uptake of and costs associated with pharmacy-delivered STI testing to inform the scale-up and sustainability of this model.