Abstract
Malaysia's HIV epidemic is rapidly expanding, with recent evidence suggesting increasing sexual transmission,
especially in MSM. HIV prevalence among MSM is now at an all-time high of 21.6% and is concentrated in the
country's capital, Kuala Lumpur, where prevalence among MSM is 43% in 2020, up from 22% just four years
before. Insights into Malaysia's expanding HIV epidemic are multi-factorial: Both homosexuality and substance
use are criminalized in Malaysia. MSM are, therefore, often hesitant to disclose their sexuality or risk behaviors,
primarily due to fear of stigma, discrimination, or criminalization. Further, evidence suggests the widespread
use (24%) of psychoactive substances (e.g., amphetamine-type stimulants) before or during a sexual encounter,
also known as sexualized drug use (chemsex) among Malaysian MSM, which leads to high-risk sexual practices
(e.g., condomless sex). Stigma and discrimination are also enacted on MSM by healthcare providers, which foster
a hostile environment toward MSM, complicating efforts to scale-up of HIV testing and subsequent linkage to
HIV prevention (pre-exposure prophylaxis) and treatment (antiretroviral therapy) services. HIV testing
jumpstarts entry into the HIV prevention and treatment cascades. New HIV testing guidelines recommend MSM
test every 3 to 6 months, as early HIV testing is a cost-effective strategy for stemming the HIV epidemic. Yet,
HIV testing rates remain low among Malaysian MSM: ever tested (70.3%) and last year tested (30.9%). HIV self-
testing (HIVST) may be particularly impactful among MSM in Malaysia. Although willingness to use HIVST is
high in this group, its use is still minimal due to lack of access to HIVST kits, concerns related to misinterpreting
results, and missed opportunities for counseling and linkage to care. In this context, eHealth represents an
innovative platform to transform the face of HIV service delivery (i.e., testing and linkage to care). Leveraging
eHealth platforms for HIV services delivery in Malaysia is ideal given that nearly all (>99%) MSM use some form
of communication technology (e.g., smartphone, laptop) and has a strong preference for web-based platforms
for HIVST. Therefore, we developed and pilot-tested a web-based HIVST platform, called Jom-Test®, to promote
HIV testing by providing free anonymous HIVST. The results demonstrated high feasibility and acceptability for
the platform but low post-test linkage to treatment and prevention services. The findings further indicated the
need for real-time (online) access to counselors for pre- and post-test counseling and support for linkage to HIV
and chemsex-related harm reduction services (offline). To address this evidence gap, we propose to jump-start
the broader HIV care continuum by adapting, expanding, and refining an existing Jom-Test® platform. The
enhanced version, to be called Jom-TestPlus, will include real-time e-counseling (eHIVST) with integrated O2O
linkage to HIV prevention and treatment services while simultaneously co-addressing chemsex-related needs for
Malaysian MSM. This model represents a potentially impactful strategy for reaching marginalized populations,
like MSM, and allows immediate engagement in the post-test linkage process to prevention or treatment services.
