SHANGHAI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Three universities in Shanghai started offering HIV self-test kits in vending machines on Tuesday to promote HIV testing on campus while protecting privacy.

Students at Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance, Shanghai University, and Tongji University can buy a kit for 30 yuan (around 4.8 U.S. dollars), take a urine sample, and return the kit to a deposit drawer in the machine.

The student can view their results online by entering a specific code number. The whole process is anonymous.

It is part of a program jointly launched by the Chinese Association of STD and AIDS Prevention and Control and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to address HIV transmission on campus.

Other universities in Chinese provinces such as Heilongjiang and Yunnan also have such kits in vending machines, according to reports.

China had about 718,270 people living with HIV/AIDS as of June in 2017, according to official data.