Oral HIV Tests Could Be Introduced in Uganda

Researchers from the Makerere University,  found that seven in 10 men had accepted to know their HIV status using the antibody self-tests,  which provide results in less than 20 minutes. Inspired by the statistics of the research, The Ministry of Health in Uganda decides to introduce oral HIV tests to motivate men to know their HIV status.

Doctors and specialists hope that more people will use oral HIV tests, because they need less than half of an hour to provide the results, they need saliva, not blood, which potentially may frighten some people to do that test. At the very moment oral HIV tests are not available on the market in Uganda, but specialists and activists hope to introduce that easy way of HIV testing countrywide.

"You swab the self-test kit on your upper gum and the lower and it's this swabbing that captures fluids on the gum before being put in testing solutions. The kit after being inserted in the solutions will start to show lines. If it shows one line that means you are negative if its shows two lines, it means that you are HIV positive but you need to do a confirmatory test in a health facility," - said Dr Joseph Matovu, from the Makerere University School of Public Health, who participated the study.