Home HIV testing kits avaliable

In 2003, Baton Rouge ranked eighth out of 104 metropolitan areas in the U.S. in AIDS case rates and New Orleans ranked 11th, according to a March 2005 HIV/AIDS surveillance quarterly report by the state Department of Health and Hospitals and Office of Public Health.
A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report states there are an estimated 250,000 persons nationwide who do not know they are infected with HIV.
Home Access Health Corporation is hoping to see a decrease in that particular statistic with its home HIV testing kits.
The Chicago-based company was founded in 1993 with a mission to develop a direct-to-patient solution for obtaining fast, convenient and confidential information about healthcare, said Mary Vogt, chief financial officer of HAHC. The company also sells a Hepatitis—C testing kits, and it is working on the development of home testing kits for other sexually transmitted diseases.
The HIV testing kit was launched in 1996 and is the only one approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. To date, more than 300,000 test kits have been processed.
“It’s a wonderful product,” Vogt said. “The test is very interesting and it’s completely convenient. The HIV test is our best seller,” she said. “We have a sophisticated testing system and it’s the only product that provides for a consumer-based confidential test.”
The test is clinically proven as 99.9 percent accurate and offers anonymity and a toll-free number for telephone support, counseling and consumer questions.
The kit, retailed at $44, can be purchased nationwide at drugstore chains, online at www.homeaccess.com or by calling (800) 448-8378.
Each test contains a blood sample collection card, a personal identification number and the toll-free phone number.
Testers prick their fingers using an enclosed sterile instrument, record their PIN number and ship their materials to a lab, Vogt said. Results are available in three to seven days. Counselors are available for callers, regardless of a positive or negative finding.
According to the CDC, early detection is key in controlling HIV and AIDS.
“HIV testing is the first step in getting the proper health care,” said Jessica Frickey, a spokesperson for the CDC. There are two reasons why people were reluctant to get tested for HIV, she said.
“One reason is they’re afraid of getting the results and others feel they haven’t done anything to put themselves at risk,” she said.
Statehealthfacts.org reported that people under the age of 25, especially young women and minorities, contract half of all new HIV infections. In 2002, adolescents aged 13 to 19 represented 65 percent of AIDS cases in the country.
“HIV testing is not only important for people to protect themselves and their health,” Frickey said. “But if they’re sexually active, (testing is important to) the protection of their sexual partners as well.”