On Oct. 9, an in-home HIV test called OraQuick went on sale in the District after becoming the first test of its kind to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. This test is not without its critics, as some HIV/AIDS activists fear that patients who test positive at home will not actively seek out treatment and social services designed to help them cope with their infection. However, the public health benefits to be gained from more accessible testing outweigh these concerns.
OraQuick testing involves a painless cheek swab that yields results that are as accurate as those produced in a hospital or clinic in as little as 20 to 40 minutes. Selling for $40 at pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens, OraQuick is also affordable, an important benefit since HIV disproportionately affects the poor.
Besides simply increasing access to testing, OraQuick could also work around negative stigmas that can be associated with getting tested. Much in the same way that home pregnancy tests empowered women to take control over their own health in the 1970s, a test like OraQuick allows people to avoid the public assumptions associated with entering an HIV/AIDS clinic to receive a test, for example.
Magic Johnson, a national face of the fights against HIV/AIDS, believes OraQuick will do a lot to make people more comfortable to get tested. “When you think about the black and brown community, the stigma behind HIV and AIDS in our community … [not wanting] anybody to see us walk into a clinic or to the doctor’s office, this kit will help,” Johnson told The Huffington Post.
At 2.7 percent, the HIV/AIDS infection rate in D.C. is on par with Rwanda’s and higher than those of Haiti, Sierra Leone, and Ethiopia. A generalized epidemic, HIV/AIDS impacts roughly 17,000 D.C. residents. Given that an estimated 10,000 are unaware they carry the virus, simply increasing the number of people who get tested is an important step in the right direction. The hope is that anyone who tests positive will take measures to prevent spreading the infection to sexual partners.
Home testing does come with a higher risk of misdiagnosis if the test is performed incorrectly. Homes also lack the immediate counseling and informational services that are typically provided by hospitals and community clinics in the case of a positive diagnosis. These concerns underscore the need for comprehensive awareness campaigns that destigmatize HIV/AIDS, making in-clinic tests less onerous.
With so many residents unaware of their HIV status, anything that will give people a chance to learn that they have HIV and seek early treatment should be seen as a positive development in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
