Ministry of Health – Press Service
Ministry of Health and Chesida, the national HIV and AIDS coordinator, has launched a new free, home-based HIV self-testing service. The aim of this service is to make HIV testing easier by allowing anyone to take an HIV test confidentially, at a place and time of their choice.
The process of obtaining a self-test for HIV is simple and easy. After accessing the enVIHos website, the interested person must answer a simple anonymous questionnaire that collects information to understand the motivation for taking the test through this platform, and then indicate the address where you want to take the test. receive the test.
Subsequently, one of the collaborating pharmacies will send the test to the specified address within 3-5 days. Once the person receives the test at home, they have Cesida resources at their disposal through the information card included in the self-test kit, which indicates what to do in case of reactivity of the test, how to do this, request assistance and receive support from CESIDA organizations throughout this process.
In Spain in 2023, more than 48.6% of new diagnoses were late, and 7.5% of people with HIV did not know they had the infection.
What is HIV self-testing?
HIV self-testing is a self-diagnosis package designed to detect the presence of HIV without the need for prior medical knowledge. Self-testing can be of two types:
Saliva test: A sample of oral fluid is taken.
puncture test: A blood sample was taken.
Both tests provide results in just 20 minutes, offering a quick and effective self-diagnosis option. Users should follow specific instructions and recommendations included with the product to ensure accurate results.
To ensure that everyone has access to HIV testing, there is a limit of four free tests per person per year.
This new initiative aims to remove barriers to accessing HIV testing in areas where public resources are lacking, promoting early diagnosis and strengthening public health.
Coordination of the agreement depends on the Department of HIV, STIs, Viral Hepatitis and Tuberculosis of the Ministry of Health, which acts as a link between companies producing self-diagnosis products, distribution companies and pharmacies.
It is expected that, following the good results obtained from the implementation of the agreement, it could be extended until the end of 2026 and the collaboration could be extended to different pharmacies throughout Spain in order to reduce the proportion of undiagnosed HIV to less than 5%.