HIV self-testing

Sometimes, our fear of hearing bad news outweighs our common sense. A recent study conducted by the Saint Antoine Hospital’s free center for information, screening, and diagnosis in Paris (Centre Gratuit d'Information, de Dépistage et de Diagnostic de l’hôpital Saint Antoine de Paris) found that 22% of people who were tested did not come back to find out their results.

In September 2015, a new screening method came onto the market to solve this problem – an HIV self-testing kit available without prescription from pharmacies. So did it work?
Since it was launched, the kit has been sold to over 240,000 people. Last year, 2,000 kits were sold every week, and a study by the French society for the fight against AIDS (Société Française de Lutte contre le Sida) conducted among pharmacists reported that 66.7% of those who purchased kits said they had never been tested before. We can safely say, therefore, that just over 2 years after its emergence, the kit has proven its worth.
As a reminder, an HIV self-test must be performed 3 months after having at-risk intercourse, and it is always best to confirm the results by blood test.