Dubai - HIV saliva test ready
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Permanent link | no responses | Published on: Thursday, 11th January, 2007
A new HIV saliva test you can take from the privacy of your own home was launched in the UAE yesterday. Aware Oral, already available in Africa, China and India, will now be available, on prescription, from pharmacies here.
The test, which will cost dhs125, claims to be 99.8 per cent accurate, and can be read within 20 minutes of testing. The launch forms part of the UAE’s HIV awareness campaign, ‘Awareness Leads to Prevention’, and suppliers of the product here, the Bin Salem Group, hope that the ease and privacy of the test will help combat the spread of the disease.
Dr Thomas Gionis, of Joseph and Gionis – who distribute the Calypte-developed test to the Middle East, said Aids figures for the Middle East were sketchy, but with a growing transient population from countries with spiralling HIV sufferers, building awareness, and developing screening methods, is crucial. “Drawing blood is not glamorous and it’s also not an easy process”, he said. “It can be a very traumatic experience. This test offers a safer, more private and very accurate screening process. If the test is positive then people need to see their physician for a follow-up.
“We are very pleased the UAE have chosen to lead the way take this step forward in the fight against this global epidemic.” The test can be obtained by making an appointment with a GP who can then prescribe the kit for it to be used privately.
http://www.7days.ae/2007/01/11/dubai-hiv-saliva-test-ready.html
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