Recorded at AIDS 2026 in Rio de Janeiro at the Roche Diagnostics booth, host Ben Plumley speaks with Professor Pedro Cahn (Fundación Huésped, Argentina) and Dr. Rupa Patel (Whitman-Walker Health, Washington, DC) about why diagnostics—often overlooked in the HIV continuum—are the essential entry point to prevention and care, especially amid reduced funding. They discuss late diagnosis and loss to follow-up, structural barriers like clinic access and hours, and the need for community-led, person-centered delivery models including outreach brigades, mobile and home-based services, and task shifting to peers and other health workers. The conversation covers integrating point-of-care and lab testing, the promise and risks of self-testing with real-time linkage to support, and linking HIV diagnostics with broader health needs such as TB, STIs, diabetes, and cancer screening to advance equity and progress toward 95-95-95.
00:00 Welcome and Setup
01:22 Live Booth Kickoff
02:20 Why Diagnostics Matter
07:11 Late Diagnosis and Equity
12:15 Reimagining Care Delivery
19:28 Outreach Testing in Practice
22:53 Point of Care vs Lab
27:28 Self Testing Debate
34:35 Building Integrated Platforms
38:30 Policy and Provider Barriers
43:43 Closing Calls to Action
Guests:
Professor Pedro Cahn
Scientific Director
Fundación Huésped, Argentina
Dr. Rupa R. Patel
Biomedical HIV Prevention Clinical and Research Lead
Whitman Walker Institute and Health, Washington D.C.
Roche Diagnostics
https://diagnostics.roche.com
AIDS 2026
https://www.iasociety.org/conferences/aids2026
Check Out Ben’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@benplumley1
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