The World Bank has just added to the literature to show that HIV testing is not prevention. This paper shows that behaviour does not change for those who test negative. This adds weight to the recent review paper https://tinyurl.com/nn92wva

Jamie

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The Heterogeneous Effects of HIV Testing

Sarah Baird
Erick Gong
Craig McIntosh
Berk Özler

An extensive multi-disciplinary literature examines the
effects of learning one’s HIV status on subsequent risky
sexual behaviors. However, many of these studies rely
on non-experimental designs; use self-reported outcome
measures, or both. This study investigates the effects
of a randomly assigned home based HIV testing and
counseling (HTC) intervention on risky sexual behaviors
and schooling investments among school-age females
in Malawi. The study finds no overall effects on HIV,
Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-2), or achievement test
scores at follow-up. However, among the small group of
individuals who tested positive for HIV, a large increase
in the probability of contracting HSV-2 is found, with
this effect stronger among those surprised by their test
results. Similarly, those surprised by HIV-negative test
results see a significant improvement in achievement test
scores, consistent with increased returns to investments
in human capital. The finding of increased HSV-2
prevalence among HIV-positive individuals suggests that
the conventional wisdom that those who learn they are
HIV-positive will adopt safer sexual practices should be
treated with caution

http://t.co/PfsShfFZNQ