The test kit sales homepage 10.30PM: Potential purchasers and stockists of HIV home test kits need to look to their consciences as to whether the sale and purchase of the kits is appropriate, says Body Positive. The country's largest peer support group for HIV positive people, mostly gay and bi men, is responding to the promotion and sale of 10-minute HIV test kits by Head Start Testing which has established a website aimed at sexually active New Zealanders and which appears to be promoting the sale of kits through adult outlets. Bruce Kilmister Body Positive says it fears for the circumstances in which people might use the tests, possibly to make an on the spot decision as to whether or not to use condoms. "I am worried that they will be used inappropriately," says Body Positive chief executive Bruce Kilmister. "If they are used for any reason other than medical then it is inappropriate. To use them to identify whether condoms can be discarded I think is a foolish approach." He says retailers, both online and shopkeepers, need to examine their consciences. "Retailers need to be aware of the potential consequences of selling this kind of merchandise. I believe there is a moral responsibility that overrides a profit consideration." In common with the NZ AIDS Foundation, Body Positive believes testing should always be done "within a safe and controlled environment with information and support available if required" rather than, say, in a home bathroom or in the back seat of a car. He also notes that a negative test result can be quite misleading. "HIV can be undetectable for up to three months with rapid rests," says Kilmister. "This is why we ask our clients to come back for a second test after three months from their potential risk of exposure to infection." From the experiences of its membership Body Positive says it knows that taking an HIV test can be life changing and even traumatic and should not be undertaken lightly or for the wrong motives. He says reputable testing clinics, such as Body Positive, provide full before and after test support and assistance. Kilmister says it is surely far better to take a free test in a supportive setting that pay for one and face the consequences alone. "A positive result is going to have to bring a person into connection with health professionals eventually so why delay a test within professional environment from the outset?" All professionally conducted tests are available with information and support which would potentially not be available in a 'home' environment, he says. Whilst it is perfectly legal to import and purchase rapid test kits, the recent HIV Services Review called for a “national discussion on the standards of HIV testing in NZ." Body Positive and the NZ AIDS Foundation both say they will be involved in that discussion. You can discuss this New Zealand glbt community news story in the GayNZ.com Forum.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 9th February 2011 - 10:30pm