HIV self-testing kits to be legalised

The Department of Health has announced that the sale of HIV self-testing kits is to be made legal in the UK allowing people to use a simple saliva test at home which will quickly give a “negative or a positive indication”.

Under the HIV Testing Kits and Services Regulations 1992, it is currently illegal to sell kits which offer on-the-spot HIV results and it is illegal to do a HIV test at home and read the result yourself. You can however take a sample yourself, send it off for testing in a laboratory and receive the result at a later date.

At the moment self testings kits can be purchased over the internet, but they are unregulated, often of poor quality and lack important information on HIV transmission and where to get support.

The number of people with the HIV virus in November 2012 was nearly 100,000, however it is estimated a quarter of people in the UK who have the HIV virus are not aware they have been infected.

Health experts hope the law change will reduce infection rates and say home testing will help people detect their infection earlier, which could lead to more effective treatment options and reduce the infection spreading.

Public Health Minister Anna Soubry, said:

“I hope that by removing the ban on self-testing kits people will be able to choose the right time and right surroundings to take a test and, if positive, help them get the best treatment available.”