The stigma and fear that come with being diagnosed with HIV is so strong that many people are afraid to get themselves tested. That, however, may change now that there's already an effective way to do it at the comforts of their own home.
The United Kingdom has finally allowed HIV home testing after it has lifted its restriction about a year ago, and today there's a product that can do that called BioSure HIV self-test.
It is the first at-home HIV test kit that has received a CE marker, which means it has passed the rigorous standards of the European Union in terms of accuracy, safety, and reliability of the results.
Performing the test is just as comfortable, quick, and easy as when you're taking a blood exam. It needs only a small amount of blood, which you yourself can draw. Place the drop into the device, which then analyzes the sample for any HIV antibodies. The results are ready within 5 minutes. From there, you can request for more tests from a health care provider or proceed with treatment.
Its principle follows that of HIV 1/2 assays of Chembio and Clearview. These products are also very easy to implement and understand, although they can be used only by health care professionals. These have a sensitivity of 99.7% and specificity of 99.9%.
Based on a test conducted by University College London and BioSure among 403 people including those who are living in places where HIV prevalence is high, conducted to determine the effectiveness of the home kit, the reliability and accuracy of the results of the home kit are comparable or even surpass that of the health care providers. At least 3% received an invalid result as they failed to continue or complete with the test.
The kit can be bought in Freedoms Shop and BioSure for only £29.95. Note that it may not detect early infection since it takes about 3 months for the body to develop antibodies.