NGO offers free HIV home test kits

Ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1, a local NGO has offered 200 free home testing kits, in an attempt to reach those who may be at risk of the disease, but are too afraid to approach an official organization due to privacy concerns.

But experts in the field said that ultimately, those who test HIV-positive will need to come into the official healthcare system to access treatment and benefits, despite their concerns.

Beijing-based NGO Chaoyang Chinese AIDS Volunteer Organization started offering the free saliva test kits on their website www.hivct.org from Sunday. It said that it plans to put this into long-term practice if the feedback is positive.

Xiao Dong, the director of the NGO, and who also heads up a World Health Organization HIV quick-testing program in Beijing, told the Global Times Monday that although there are many places like hospitals and disease control centers that offer free HIV testing services in the capital, not many people use them.

"We want to encourage them to have a test by offering these free saliva testing devices," said Xiao.

People only need to give their name and address to obtain the device via express mail.

"You just need a few seconds to swab the saliva and you'll get the result with the help of the instructions we posted online," he said.

The test works similar to a home pregnancy test, he said. When the swab is put into the test tube provided, after a wait of 20 minutes, the lines on the swab indicate whether it is positive or negative.

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