• The face of HIV has changed enormously in recent years. People living with HIV who are receiving appropriate medical care can live almost as long as people who do not have HIV.


• Testing and treatment are still essential, however. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), now recommend that everyone from age 13-64 have at least one HIV test as part of their routine healthcare.


• A home HIV test kit makes it possible for individuals to access this critically important health information, at their convenience and while preserving their privacy.

Contents of this article:

Types of home test kits
Who should use them and when?
What do the results mean?
Types of home test kits
Two HIV home testing options have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are available in the United States (U.S.). These are the Home Access HIV-1 Test System and the OraQuick HIV test kit.

Home Access HIV-1 Test System

Home Access HIV-1 Test System blood sample
The Home Access HIV-1 Test system requires the user to take a sample of their blood and then it to a lab for processing.
This was the first home HIV test kit, approved by the FDA in July 1996. This test requires a blood sample, which is then sent off to a lab for processing, via the mail.

In order to use this HIV test kit, an individual must first call a toll-free number and register using an anonymous code. Pre-counseling and a brief, anonymous interview about demographic data are conducted. Then the individual collects their blood sample and sends it off to the lab for processing.

The results will be available the working day after the lab receives the blood sample.

In order to get the results of their tests, people call the same toll-free number again and use their anonymous codes. Since the manufacturer double-checks the results before they are made available to users, additional immediate testing is not usually required if the result is negative.