With the new regulations in place facilitating the process of doing self-testing for HIV, the government is hopeful that more people will be encouraged to test themselves. It is estimated that one in five with HIV do not know their HIV status, thus there is an apparent need for such legislative amendments.
The testing kit tests for the presence of antibodies for HIV in the system, which happens when a person is infected by HIV. It is done with swabs of fluid taken from one’s upper and lower gums. These swabs are placed in the supplied tube for 20-40 minutes, after which, depending on one’s HIV status, one or two lines should appear. One line is an indicator that the test is negative, while the appearance of two lines signifies that the test may be positive. In which case, it is highly recommended to carry out follow up tests at sexual health clinics to be certain.
These tests have shown remarkable accuracy, with 470 of 480 tests in a clinical trial using the home testing kit producing correct diagnoses. The false negative rate for the home testing kit, or the possibility of receiving an all-clear diagnosis when in fact the person is HIV-positive, is estimated to be just around 2 out of 100 tested people. In terms of false positive rates, the same clinical trial only misdiagnosed one person, giving one person an HIV-positive diagnosis when in fact they were HIV-negative.
Home testing kits are now available for purchase online as well as from pharmacies that allow the taking of samples at home to be sent to a laboratory for testing.
