Advantages of Home HIV Tests

"There are both advantages and disadvantages in testing at home for HIV. It really comes down to a matter of personal comfort. You might not be fully ready with the possibility of being HIV positive, and the notion of going to your home doctor or to a public health center and having a test done. It may fit your scheduling better to buy a test at the drug store or grocery store and bring it home and do it on your own time. And for some people the stigma of HIV and AIDS is so overwhelming that the thought of having anybody but themselves do the test for them, is just too shocking a thought to entertain. A particular disadvantage of a home HIV test is, other than the counseling offered to you via phone when you call for the results, there's no particular counseling, or face to face interaction, or comfort. That's the standard with an HIV test in a public health or doctor's office setting. When you have an HIV test at a public health facility, whether you test positive or negative, there is immediate counseling to ask any questions you may have to ask, or, in the eventuality that you test positive to set up immediate treatment."