CHALO! 2.0: A Mobile Technology Based Intervention to Accelerate HIV Testing and Linkage to Preventive Treatment.

CHALO! 2.0: A Mobile Technology Based Intervention to Accelerate HIV Testing and Linkage to Preventive Treatment.

While HIV prevalence among Men Seeking Men (MSM) in India is 10-15 times higher than in the general population (4.3% vs 0.3%), current interventions for Indian MSM have limited reach. In order to reduce the burden of HIV in MSM, innovative, far-reaching prevention and treatment strategies are needed. Guided by the increase access to internet-based social and mobile technologies (SMT) (e.g., SMS, WhatsApp, dating apps) globally and in India, this is a 3-arm parallel, pragmatic randomized controlled trial of community-developed, theory based behavioral intervention (CHALO! 2.0) delivered via WhatsApp (secure SMS application) compared to an Attention-Matched Control, or a Digital Coupon for free HIV testing only control conditions. The primary outcomes are HIV-testing at 6 months (3 months after the end of the intervention) and linkage-to-preventive care (counseling or pre-exposure prophylaxis) at 12 months. The secondary outcomes are the frequency of HIV-testing by 18 months.

Inclusion Criteria:

• live or work in Mumbai or Thane
• fluent in Hindi or English
• have had anal sex with men in the past one year
• report that they have either never been tested for HIV, are unaware of HIV test results, or are HIV-negative with last HIV test at any time, and have engaged in anal sex since last HIV test
• able to provide and verify a WhatsApp mobile number and email address
• willing to answer online surveys for 18 months

Exclusion Criteria:

• participating in a concurrent HIV-related study
• intention to move out of the Mumbai metropolitan area in the next six months