There are already home HIV testing devices

If approved, the new HIV testing tool will help people check if they have HIV after 20 minutes in absolute privacy at home.

Earlier, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved another form of home HIV testing. This type of test requires the tester to send a special paper with a sample of dried blood taken from their finger to the laboratory for analysis. Blood testers will then call a number for free, revealing personal identification numbers and receiving results and post-test instructions.

Compared to this method, the new test device, OraQuick test, is currently only sold to doctors and American hospitals, which can give results 20 minutes after being inserted into the mouth. Like a pregnancy test, 1 line of negative results and 2 lines means the tester is HIV positive.

Thus more people can detect their HIV status without being identified. Hope this can help diagnose and treat early, improve the survival of patients.

However, people also fear that self-testers may not understand the results or suffer from the shock of knowing they have HIV. Equipment may need additional instruction sheets.

It is also possible that a few cases will produce false results, ie those who think they have HIV have negative results. In contrast, a positive result appears in people who think they cannot carry the virus.

This is also the reason why home HIV testing is banned in the US. However, there are still some people who buy illegal testing tools via the Internet.