Table 3.

HIV testing policies identified and age of consent to HTS in sub-Saharan Africa

	Country	Age of consent to HTS	Sub-region	HIV burden*
1	Angola	MND34	ESA	Low
2	Benin	18 (Age 15 if adolescent shows maturity)64	WCA	Low
3	Botswana	NA44	ESA	High
4	Burkina Faso	18 (MME: from 15 years of age.)65	WCA	Low
5	Burundi	MND72	WCA	Low
6	Cameroon	MND (MME: HTS from age 10–13 with parental consent and HTS from age 14–19 if sexually active or family head)36	WCA	Low
7	Cape Verde	MND37	WCA	Low
8	Central African Republic	18 (MME: if there is no parent or guardian and a child is able to manage the decision, a minor may access HTS independently)66	WCA	Low
9	Chad	MND38	WCA	Low
10	Comoros	MND39	ESA	Low
11	Congo	NI	WCA	Low
12	Côte d'Ivoire	1673	WCA	Low
13	Democratic Republic of the Congo	MND40	WCA	Low
14	Djibouti	NI	ESA	Low
15	Equatorial Guinea	NI	WCA	High
16	Eritrea	1867	ESA	Low
17	Eswatini	12 (MME: people 16 years old or more may access HIVST)49	ESA	High
18	Ethiopia	15 (MME: mature minors 13–15 years old may consent to HIV testing; those less than 15 years of age cannot consent to HIV testing)55	ESA	Low
19	Gabon	NI	WCA	Low
20	Gambia	13 (MME: for those below age 13, parental consent is required unless it is an emergency)51	WCA	Low
21	Ghana	16 (MME: any person who is between 14 and 16 years old and is sexually active, married, pregnant and a parent or requests HTS is considered to be a mature minor and is able to give full informed consent)61	WCA	Low
22	Guinea	MND41	WCA	Low
23	Guinea-Bissau	NI	WCA	Low
24	Kenya	15 (MME: emancipated minor exception; survivors of sexual violence who are under the age of 15 may access HIV testing without parental consent)56	ESA	Low
25	Lesotho	1245	ESA	High
26	Liberia	14 (MME: any child who is married and pregnant, works as a commercial sex worker and is a street teenager, family head or with a history of sexual intercourse is regarded as a mature or emancipated minor and can consent for HIV testing)53	WCA	Low
27	Madagascar	1868	ESA	Low
28	Malawi	13 (MME: minors of less than 13 years of age may consent to HTS)52	ESA	High
29	Mali	1869	WCA	Low
30	Mauritania	NI	WCA	Low
31	Mauritius	NM74	ESA	Low
32	Mozambique	12 (MME: adolescents married, living as if married, sexually active and head of household may give consent for HIV testing)46	ESA	High
33	Namibia	1454	ESA	High
34	Niger	NI	WCA	Low
35	Nigeria	MND42	WCA	Low
36	Rwanda	1247	ESA	Low
37	São Tomé and Príncipe	NI	WCA	Low
38	Senegal	1557	WCA	Low
39	Seychelles	NI	ESA	Low
40	Sierra Leone	18 (MME: child survivors of sexual assault or abuse, married young people under age 18, pregnant, parents, minors engaged in behaviour that puts them at risk and child sex workers)70	WCA	Low
41	Somalia	15 (MME)58	ESA	Low
42	South Africa	12 (for HIVST, children between age 12 and 18 years should use directly assisted testing options)48	ESA	High
43	South Sudan	18 (MME: married, pregnant, parents and emancipated)71	ESA	Low
44	Sudan	MND (MME: adolescent KP†)43	ESA	Low
45	Togo	NI	WCA	Low
46	Uganda	1250	ESA	High
47	United Republic of Tanzania	1559 75	ESA	Low
48	Zambia	1662	ESA	High
49	Zimbabwe	16 (MME: shows maturity, at risk of HIV, symptomatic and pregnant)63	ESA	High

*Countries were classified as low and high HIV burden using an HIV prevalence threshold of 5%. Data were obtained from Global AIDS Monitoring, 2020.¹

†KP, key populations

ESA, Eastern and Southern Africa; HIVST, HIV self-testing; HTS, HIV testing services; MME, mature minor exceptions; MND, minor not defined; NA, no age of consent to HTS described in policy; NI, no information; NL, no age of consent to sex law; NM, no mention; WCA, Western and Central Africa.