Latest findings have disclosed that Kenya, for the past 15 years has been applying a two-test strategy in HIV testing.
However, there has emerged a concern that this approach has often resulted in conflicting test results.
New evidence is suggesting that the negative HIV/Aids test results some people received were not correct.
A court case filed before the High Court, which brought to light the Ministry of Health’s approval process for HIV testing kits has unearthed this revelation.
Due to the ministry’s endorsement of certain kits as the most effective, there is a chance that three out of every 100 Kenyans who underwent testing were erroneously informed that they are HIV- negative. In reality, they may be living with the virus, the court proceedings revealed.
The complainants, Kathambi Ruciami and Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech Company Limited, through lawyer Elias Mutuma, argued that the categorisation of kits done early this year was wrong and puts Kenyans at risk.
In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that countries transition from a two-test algorithm to a three-test algorithm to improve the accuracy of HIV testing.
A separate court battle between two women and the government is already ongoing, regarding the two-test strategy after they received positive results from the kits despite being negative.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) had also recommended the use of dual HIV/syphilis rapid diagnosis tests for pregnant women attending ante-natal care, and Kenya adopted this strategy for pregnant women in 2018.
The health agency also recommended that for a positive HIV diagnosis, the three consecutive tests should maintain a 99 per cent predictive value.