BioSure UK has launched its HIV Self Test, the only product of its kind to be approved for sale in the UK.
The single use, in vitro diagnostic (IVD) device is said to be 99.7% accurate from three months after suspected exposure to the infection and provides an indication of personal HIV status within 15 minutes.
The £29.95 test works by pricking your finger to produce a small drop of blood, dampening the device with the blood and pushing upright into a buffer pot, which will then trigger a pink colour to start to move up through the test strip.
The test strip is similar to that of a pregnancy test, detecting antibodies associating with the infection. Users are warned that the device tests for HIV contracted after three months and a negative result may be incorrect if exposed more recently.
Dr Rosemary Gillespie, chief executive at HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust, commented: “We campaigned for a long time to secure the legalisation of HIV self-test kits which happened in April 2014, so it is great to see the first self-test kits being approved.
“Self testing kits are currently provided outside the NHS and will cost money. The main difference between this and other testing options is that it gives the convenience of doing an HIV test at home, with the result delivered outside a clinical setting, which we know some people prefer.”
According the Public Health England, 95% of people in the UK acquired HIV through sexual contact, around 110,000 are living with the infection and approximately 26,000 remain undiagnosed.