Anyone that has had to visit a sexual health clinic will be familiar with the agonising waiting times, inflexibility of opening times, the potential humiliation of bumping into an acquaintance, and the anxiety caused by needles and blood samples.
The uncomfortable conditions mean that many forgo testing altogether. But, on the 6 April 2014, the ban forbidding home HIV testing was lifted in the UK, paving the way for the launch of a revolutionary new product that will make home testing a reality.
Home HIV Tests is the first fully-approved supplier of a CE-approved home HIV test kit within the UK.
Trevor Rhead, company director, said: “Our founders are either experienced counsellors who were experts in post diagnosis support or worked in governance in the charitable sector. All of our home HIV test kits are of the highest quality and are CE approved to ensure everything is safe and accurate. We also guarantee we take care in delivering our HIV test kits to our clients. We appreciate that this is a sensitive matter and will discreetly package all our kits so nothing is exposed to others. Not only that, we appreciate that you don’t want to be waiting around to receive your test kit and so we send them all out first class as standard.”
Accurate results are revealed within 15 minutes. The test detects HIV types 1 and 2 and HIV-1 subtypes, including O. The kit has been tested by numerous independent clinical studying bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and Geneva to ensure it is effective and is widely purchased by human rights champions WHO and Unicef.
Each kit comes with a user guide that provides a step-by-step walkthrough. Many may even be familiar with the use as it works similarly to a diabetic checking blood levels independently.
The sensitivity of the test if 100% guaranteed while the specificity of the test is 99.8%. In the aftermath of taking the test, customers are able to use an optional counselling and third-party referral service to discuss their thoughts, emotions and next steps.
As recently as 2010, more than 50% of people diagnosed with HIV began treatment late, whereas the successful management of HIV is wholly dependent on early diagnosis and treatment. HIV charities are lobbying for the use of the kit as it empowers individuals with the freedom to take control of their health in a discreet, confidential, fast and accurate way. For those at high risk regular testing is essential.
The Home HIV Test Kit is priced at £19.99.
