{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]],"date-time":"2026-06-03T18:04:02Z","timestamp":1780509842984,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"BMJ","content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Sex Transm Infect"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,19]]},"abstract":"\n Objectives<\/jats:title>\n HIV self-testing (HIVST) through community pharmacies offers a complementary, confidential and convenient testing option. Despite the availability of HIVST kits in Belgian pharmacies since 2017, little is known about sales and pharmacists\u2019 experiences. This study assessed HIVST sales and pharmacists\u2019 knowledge, attitudes and perceptions regarding its provision.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n \n We conducted a cross-sectional web-based survey among all community pharmacies (~4700) in Belgium between 14 May and 31 July 2025. Participants were recruited via newsletters from national and regional pharmacists\u2019 associations and a pharmacy network. We analysed responses on HIVST sales and pharmacists\u2019 knowledge, attitudes and perceptions descriptively. Associations between sales and pharmacy or pharmacist characteristics were examined using \u03c7\n 2<\/jats:sup>\n , Fisher\u2019s exact or Mann-Whitney tests.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n Among 235 respondents, 33.2% (78\/235) reported selling HIVST, of whom 69.2% (54\/78) sold \u22642 kits annually. Most sold the finger-prick Autotest HIV (65\/78, 83.3%). Retail prices ranged from \u20ac26 to \u20ac35 (58\/78, 74.4%). Half procured kits on request (37\/78, 47.4%), only 12.8% (10\/78) displayed kits. Sales were associated with pharmacist age (p=0.04) and location, with Brussels pharmacies more likely to sell kits than those in Flanders or Wallonia (p<0.001). Selling \u22653 HIVST kits annually occurred in 90.0% (9\/10) of respondents with kits visibly displayed, compared with 41.4% (12\/29) for behind-the-counter storage and 5.4% (2\/37) for on-request provision (p<0.001). While 76.6% (180\/235) considered HIVST a valuable complement to facility-based testing, only 19.6% (46\/235) actively recommended it. Only 15.3% (36\/235) had attended HIVST training; 31.9% (75\/235) reported discomfort advising clients due to limited experience (85.3%) or low knowledge (78.7%).<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n The opportunity to purchase HIVST in community pharmacies remains underutilised in Belgium. Enhancing pharmacists\u2019 training, confidence, visibility of kits and affordability may increase uptake, strengthening the role of pharmacists as complementary providers of HIVST. Future research should include clients\u2019 perspectives on HIVST.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/sextrans-2026-056906","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]],"date-time":"2026-06-03T17:20:38Z","timestamp":1780507238000},"page":"sextrans-2026-056906","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Sales of HIV self-tests (HIVST) and pharmacists\u2019 knowledge, attitudes and perceptions regarding the distribution of HIVST in community pharmacies in Belgium: a cross-sectional survey"],"prefix":"10.1136","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5895-9332","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anke","family":"Rotsaert","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elisabet","family":"Beseran Valero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9031-8503","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christiana","family":"N\u00f6stlinger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5541-6041","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thibaut","family":"Vanbaelen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerpen, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dorien","family":"Van den Bossche","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerpen, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jessika","family":"Deblonde","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gert","family":"Scheerder","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Raffaella","family":"Ravinetto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium"},{"name":"School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3756-921X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thijs","family":"Reyniers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bernadette","family":"Hensen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026060310202146000_sextrans-2026-056906v1.1","unstructured":"World Health Organization . 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