The Role of Rapid Oral HIV Test in Diagnosing HIV Infection

The length of time that is needed to diagnose HIV infection remains as the main burden in reducing HIV transmission. The gold standard tests for diagnosing HIV infection which arecombination of both Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Western Blot (WB) take as long as two weeks. As the result, 31% patients who tested HIV-positive did not return to receive their results. Consequently, the numbers of people live with and die because of HIV/AIDS keep increasing each year. Besides time consuming, ELISA and WB require sophisticated facilities, well-trained physician and a large amount of money. In accordance with that, efforts have been made to develop novel test, which is rapid, affordable, available, and accurate, such as rapid oral HIV test. Rapid oral HIV test gives the result in 20 minutes. That non-invasive test is as sensitive and as specific as the gold standard tests. It does not require sophisticated facilities or well-trained physician that makes it suitable for developing countries, such as Indonesia. Rapid detection allows patient to start treatment earlier and prevent transmission. Patient’s prognosis will improve by starting treatment earlier. Due to that fact, rapid oral HIV test reveals opportunity in decreasing HIV transmission and AIDS mortality rate.