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Public Health Minister Anna Soubry
announced plans to revoke the United Kingdom’s 1992 HIV Testing Kits and
Services Regulations and legalize the sale of HIV home-testing kits that
provided rapid test results. The new regulation would allow UK residents to
purchase HIV home-testing kits that provide on-the-spot HIV test results based
on a saliva sample.
According to the Health Protection
Agency, 25 percent of the approximately 100,000 UK residents who had HIV in
November 2012 did not know they were infected with the virus. Soubry hoped
removing the ban on HIV self-testing kits would encourage people to take a test
and seek treatment if they were HIV-positive.
National AIDS Trust Chief Executive
Officer Deborah Jack and Terrence Higgins Trust Policy Director Lisa Power both
praised the regulation change. Power noted that UK regulation of HIV
home-testing would make self-testing a “safe and supported option” and give
people a choice about HIV testing. Jack stated that her organization campaigned
for the change to stop people from ordering low-quality self-testing kits from
sources outside the United Kingdom.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus.
To learn more about The Friends of
AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
