Introduction Sao Paulo (SP) state has 43 million inhabitants, 645 cities, 251.133 reported AIDS cases and a 0.6%HIV prevalence. In SP 4 in 10 HIV diagnosed individuals’ access care with delay.

Methods Conducting state testing campaigns annually is one of its main strategies to expand the offer of testing in the primary care health services especially in medium and small municipalities, besides the offer to pregnant women. The goal is to increasing the proportion of people tested once in life from 39.7% (2004) to 80% in 2017.

Results Approximately 3 million tests, including HIV and syphilis, were conducted in nine annual testing campaigns, of which 60% are HIV tests and 40% syphilis tests since 2014. An average of 130,000 HIV tests of the public health sector are billed in monthly. The number of municipalities involved rose from 376 (58%) to 576 (89%) between 2008/2016. Some results are very similar in all campaigns. The proportion of people tested for the first time revolves around 50%, being always highest among males. The proportion of HIV positive identified is also quite stable and is around 0.45%. By introducing rapid testing initially this strategy reached the level of 1.7% of HIV positive cases in 2010, gradually falling until 2016, reaching 0.4%. The campaigns implementation in all nine years included a preparatory phase pacts in areas of management meetings and incorporated strategies for distance education and subsequent on-line monitoring.

Conclusion The HTC have amplified the access to HIV tests due to the expansion of spontaneous demand for testing services in primary care, especially in medium and small towns. Besides, campaigns arrangements are improving greater integration of primary care and STD/AIDS health programs, contributing for reducing the stigma related to AIDS and HIV testing in the population. Other complementary HIV testing strategies focused on vulnerable populations, conducted by health professionals, are easier to implement when already implemented in services routines.