WELCOME TO GAY MEN’S HEALTH

SCOTLAND’S CHARITY FOR GAY MEN

HOME TESTING

There are two types of HIV home testing kit: Instant HIV Test kits and Home Sampling kits.

Instant HIV kits involve taking a small amount of blood and adding it to a solution. The result of the test is available within 5 minutes.

These kits cannot be sold legally in the UK although sales via the Internet are increasing. This is problematic as kits bought online may be unreliable and do not carry any information about support services in the UK.

Over a third of gay and bisexual men in Scotland with HIV do not know they have it and many of these men are reluctant to go to a clinic because of the stigma attached to having a test. We believe there is a need to change the law to be able to offer safe and reliable Instant HIV kits to encourage more sexually active men to test.

Home Sampling Kits can be used legally in the UK and work in a different way from Instant Test kits. You do not get a result immediately. Each test kit comes with an instructions booklet with illustrations. You collect a saliva or blood sample that is shipped to the company's laboratory and then after a few days you call back for test results, basic phone counselling and possible referrals.

Until there are properly regulated and reliable kits available in the UK, we recommend that any man who wants to have an HIV test makes contact with a GUM clinic or contact us here at Gay Men’s Health.

Find Us:

Home  |  About Us  |  Volunteer  |  Contact  |  Donate

 
Cookies in Use