Source: NY Times |
Last week the FDA approved an at-home HIV test, OraQuick. An informative read on the matter is found in the New York Times. The test is highly sensitive and positive results must be confirmed in a medical office.
As an infectious diseases specialist, I fully support at-home HIV testing. Alarmists have predicted a wave of suicides if home tests are made available. I think that these concerns may now be unfounded. Although there is still a stigma associated with HIV, the disease can now be managed very well and is no longer a death sentence.
Timely diagnosis is urgently needed. Diagnosis is treatment and treatment is prevention.