• Julie E Myers, Olivia Y El-Sadr Davis, Elliott R Weinstein, Molly Remch, Amy Edelstein, Amina Khawja, and Julia A Schillinger.
• Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 42-09 28th Street, 22-84, Queens, New York, NY, 11101, USA. jmyers@health.nyc.gov.
• AIDS Behav. 2017 Feb 1; 21 (2): 515-524.

AbstractWe conducted an in-person survey of New York City (NYC) pharmacies to assess the availability, accessibility, and price of the over-the-counter, rapid HIV self-test kit. NYC pharmacies were stratified into high, moderate and low morbidity neighborhoods by the HIV diagnosis rate of the neighborhood in which the pharmacy was located. A random sample of 500 pharmacies was taken [250 from high morbidity neighborhoods (HighMN) and 250 from low morbidity neighborhoods (LowMN)]. Pharmacies were excluded if: closed during survey, non-retail, or >10 min walk from subway. Project staff visited pharmacies to determine kit availability (in pharmacy on day of survey), accessibility (not locked/behind counter), and price (marked on shelf/product). Of 361 pharmacies (161 LowMN; 200 HighMN), kits were available in 27 % and accessible in 10 %; there was no difference by neighborhood. Kits were most often kept behind the pharmacy counter; this was more common in HighMN than in LowMN. Kits were kept solely behind the pharmacy counter in 52 %. Median price was US $42.99 without variability across neighborhoods. The rapid HIV self-test had limited availability and access in retail pharmacies. The high median price measured suggests that cost remained a barrier.

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