Vending Machines For HIV Self Test Mouth Swab Kits Launched In The UK
Image: (Left) Vending machines offering free sexual health self test kits. Image: NIHR ARC West. (Right) OraQuick HIV Self-Test Kit.
Vending machines that dispense free blood-free mouth swab HIV self testing kits have been set up at four locations in the United Kingdom.
The vending machines are located at four venues, including at a shopping centre, in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
“We hope that placing these vending machines in public spaces around Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire will help people access tests. We’re particularly excited to introduce easy, blood-free mouth swab HIV tests for the first time,” said Jo Kesten, ARC West in a statement.
Vending Machines Can Be Accessed By Public
Researchers from the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West) and the Health Protection Research Unit in Behavioural Science and Evaluation (HPRU) at the University of Bristol will evaluate the use of the vending machines.
Public health agencies estimate that one in 16 people living with HIV in the UK do not know that they have HIV. In 2019 around 42 % of people were diagnosed late with HIV and this increased to 46 % in 2021.
“We hope that this project will go some way to reducing the number of ongoing infections, as people with positive test results will be offered treatment by our service or other NHS services,” said Kesten, adding, “Helping communities that find it difficult to access services through traditional channels such as sexual health clinics is a particularly important goal for us.”
HIV Self Test Kits Has 99.7% Accuracy Rate.
The vending machine will offer two types of test kits – one is a HIV mouth swab testing kit and the other is a test kit for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV and syphilis and another for
The HIV mouth swab testing kit is easy to use. One has to swab the inside of ones cheek with a mouth swab, and the test results will be available at home within 20 minutes. The second test kit requires a person to send the sample to a lab, with the test results available in one to three weeks.
Meanwhile, Superdrug in the UK is selling the world’s first gum swab HIV self-testing kit at its stores.The OraQuick HIV Self-Test detects antibodies to HIV in the mouth and reportedly has an accuracy rate of over 99.7%.
“Knowing your HIV status is the necessary first step in helping you to make informed choices and assume responsibility for your own healthcare. If detected early, treatment can be quickly initiated, improving patient outcomes,” Brian Reid, vice president of Diagnostics International at OraSure Technologies said in a statement.
