American approval of a home test kit for HIV which could become available in New Zealand is worrying the NZ AIDS Foundation which is concerned that the kit may not detect HIV in some cases and that people using it without professional support may be traumatised by a positive result. The US Federal Drug Administration has approved the OraQuick brand of home HIV test kit which can be purchased online or over the counter and gives a reading based on an oral swab. Similar test kits are already being promoted in New Zealand for retail sale and through the internet but this is understood to be the first time the highly-regarded FDA has given approval to such a kit. "Our concerns around the FDA’s approval of OraQuick are based on to the lack of immediate pre and post-test counselling support and the OraQuick test’s comparatively low sensitivity to HIV," says NZAF Executive Director Shaun Robinson. "We have serious concerns around the use of home testing kits for HIV, particularly that there is no immediate support available to those who experience a positive test result. To be diagnosed with an incurable virus is life-changing," Robinson says. "A positive HIV result can be extremely traumatising for some people and there will be questions they need answered straight away." The tests can easily fail to detect HIV, thereby misleading people into believing they or their sex partner are not at risk of passing on or contracting HIV. "It can take up to three months for antibodies to HIV to become detectable in the body. If the OraQuick test is taken within three months of exposure to HIV it could produce a false-negative result. In a worst-case scenario an HIV infected person could choose to practice unsafe sex on the belief they are HIV negative when they are not." The Foundation is also worried that the FDA-approved kits are not totally reliable. "The OraQuick test only has a 92% sensitivity to HIV meaning that one false-negative test result would be expected out of every twelve test results in HIV-infected individuals," according to Robinson. By comparison, the NZAF says the FASTest kit it uses throughout the country has "a 100% sensitivity to HIV." The NZAF's test is also administered by trained HIV medics and counsellors who know how to avoid the pitfalls of the window period and can support a person who gets a confirmed HIV-positive result. Home test kits for HIV that are currently available online in New Zealand are not approved by the FDA or recommended by the World Health Organisation "so we have no guarantee on their quality or accuracy. This is another reason that the NZAF has never endorsed home HIV test kits in New Zealand," Robinson says. At present there is no legal mechanism which prohibits the importation and supply of personal test kits for HIV in New Zealand. The only reason the Ministry of Health can step in to halt the supply of kits is if they have reasonable concerns around their effectiveness. You can discuss this gay New Zealand community news story on the GayNZ.com Forum here
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 18th July 2012 - 9:00am