The Effect of Undetectable Equals Untransmittable (U=U) Messaging on HIV Testing Uptake Among South African Men: a Randomized Trial.

This study will investigate the effect of participatory, user designed messaging to increase knowledge about U=U on HIV testing uptake within men in the Klipfontein Mitchells Plain (KMP) district, a resource-limited, densely populated, high HIV disease burden area in Cape Town, through a cluster randomized trial design. The study will be conducted in two phases: Phase 1 is a participatory, human-centered design framework will be used to develop U=U messages to increase HIV testing uptake in men. Phase 2 is a cluster randomized trial that will determine the effect of U=U messaging on HIV testing uptake. The primary outcome will be HIV testing uptake at a community-based mobile clinic. Secondary outcomes will include the proportion of males tested who are HIV-positive (and newly HIV positive).

Men in the intervention group will receive invitation cards for mobile HIV testing that contain U=U messages. Men in the control group will receive invitation cards for mobile HIV testing that contain standard messaging. Mobile clinic days (i.e. clusters of men receiving invitation cards on a single day) will be the unit of randomization. Recruitment will be conducted by trained mobile clinic staff at high foot-traffic sites in the KMP community. Recruitment efforts will be focus on young men in multiple mobile testing sites that are located in areas within KMP.