Test yourself for

The World Health Organization (WHO) released guidelines for HIV self-testing ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1.

According to WHO's progress report, kLack of an HIV diagnosis is a major obstacle to implementing the Organization's recommendation that everyone with HIV should be offered antiretroviral therapy. y

The report states that 18 million people, or 40 per cent of all people affected by the HIV virus around the world, remain unaware of their status.

These people are still missing out on life-saving treatment, which can prevent HIV transmission to others, said WHO DirectorGeneral Margaret Chan in the report.

HIV self-testing means people can use oral fluid or blood-finger-pricks to discover their status in a private and convenient setting.

Those with positive results are advised to seek confirmatory tests at health clinics. WHO recommends they receive information and counselling as well as rapid referral to prevention and care services.

Self-testing has been shown to nearly double the frequency of testing among men who have sex with men. Recent studies in Kenya found that male partners of pregnant women had twice the uptake of HIV testing when offered self-testing.

The self-testing kits are provided by WHO for free. WHO also supports other such kits which are available at low prices.

Currently, 23 countries have national policies that support HIV self-testing. Many others are developing policies, but wide-scale implementation of HIV self-testing remains limited.