Stigma discourages people from seeking information and programs, for fear it will make others think they have HIV, are promiscuous or unfaithful. It also concerns about the attitudes of Lab technicians or medical officers and worries about what a positive results would mean are all barriers to us taking a test. But knowing your HIV status is the best way to keep yourself and other people healthy. So the privacy and control that home testing can provide should mean it’s a more attractive option for some people.

Using the test contents provided, you clean your chosen finger, prick it with one of the lancets, collect some blood – either in a tube for postal testing, or onto a testing strip for self-testing (exact steps may vary, so check instructions).

This test involves the using of Dried blood spot (DBS card) specimens are collected by applying just 3 drops per circle of the card, drawn by lancet from the finger onto specially manufactured IVD DBS card. The blood is allowed to air dried for an hour. Spotted card are then stored in low gas-permeability plastic bags with desiccant added to reduce humidity, and may be kept at ambient temperature, even in tropical climates.

Once the sample reach in the laboratory, technicians separate a small disc of saturated paper from the card to extract the Blood Genomic DNA and perform HIV-1 DNA Qualitative by using Taqman Realtime PCR method on IVD platform. The HIV DNA Realtime PCR test are 99% Sensitivity and 98% specificity.

DBS sample can be obtained by just pricking the finger, so no trained lab technicians or phlebotomist. Requires only a small amount of blood. Easy to store. Easy to transport.No need of temperature control in transportation. Low biohazard. A widely used method of specimen collection for HIV-1 PCR testing around the world.Performs comparably with whole blood collection methods in terms of sensitivity and specificity for HIV using Realtime PCR assay. It facilitate wider accessibility to the testing service.

Licensed HIV tests that have been approved by national authorities are very reliable. On rare occasions they will produce a positive result which is then found to be negative – known as a false positive test result.

If you receive a positive result from your home test you should go to an HIV clinic as soon as possible for a confirmation test.

If you have taken a postal test you will be invited to your nearest clinic when you receive your result. If you have taken a self-test the kit should include information about contacting your local clinic.

Remember that it may take up to three months from the time of infection for traces of HIV to show up in an HIV test. The kit will provide you with more specific information about this ‘window period’.