by Keiron Audain

Created on: October 31, 2009   Last Updated: November 01, 2009

Some of the greatest challenges surrounding the HIV epidemic include the battle to prevent the virus from being transmitted and detecting the virus in infected persons before it's too late. It is very safe to say that improving the uptake and access to HIV testing by providing quick, same day results can effectively address both of these giant hurdles.

For a number of people, even the idea of going for an HIV test can leave them drowning in anxiety - the thought of going to the clinic, sitting in the waiting room, having the test done, and then waiting up to two weeks to get the results is more often than not too much to bear for a lot of people who choose not to get tested.

It is a well known reality that many people living with HIV either do not know their status, or found out about it really late into their infection for any significant headway to be made treatment-wise.

Anxiety has often been cited as one of the primary issues regarding traditional HIV testing. Due to their reliance on lab equipment, these tests must be carried out by trained professionals within a laboratory environment - hence the estimated waiting times for results. Yet the introduction of rapid HIV testing has revolutionised the way people get tested and receive their results, and has encouraged countless more people to find out their status.

The benefits of rapid testing can really be seen in developing countries where healthcare, particularly sexual health clinics are not always widely accessible, especially in rural areas. Here, people may have to travel far distances to get to the nearest clinic, and returning weeks later for results may not always be easy, especially when considering issues like transport costs and time to be taken off work. There are many examples of rapid testing being made available via mobile clinics and large numbers of people being tested and given their results straight away. Unfortunately, governments of many of these countries are not in the best position to increase accessibility of rapid testing to meet the demand for it - but things are changing.

Luckily, in places like the UK, rapid HIV testing is widely available at various clinics across the country. Yet this convenience, which is much sought after in other parts of the world, is not fully taken advantage of, and is largely ignored as so many people still remain blinded to their HIV status.

The rapid HIV tests currently available applies the same technology as traditional antibody tests, however,

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