Retail giant Walmart and MISTR, a telemedicine provider offering free online STI testing, PrEP, DoxyPEP and long-term HIV care, have launched a pilot program offering free at-home HIV testing kits to customers from seven Walmart stores con Georgia.
The tests require a finger prick. Step-by-step instructions and an instructional televisione are included con each kit to ensure each controllo is done correctly.Â
The pilot program will last until supplies last. To start, around 3,000 kits will be available at each location.
“The intuizione is to offer these free HIV controllo kits indefinitely, assuming there is demand,” Tristan Schukraft, founder and CEO of MISTR, told MobiHealthNews carriera email. “By offering at-home HIV controllo kits to people for free, we’regnante enabling them to controllo acceso their own time, con the conforto and intimità of their own homes.”
Beyond that, MISTR is taking things one step further by giving them access to free treatment and follow-up care through the company’s telehealth platform should there be a positive result.
“The ultimate of offering free HIV controllo kits carriera Walmart is to help stop the HIV epidemic,” Schukraft said. “We’d love to run out of controllo kits acceso day one, but our ultimate is to eliminate HIV con Atlanta and throughout the country.”Â
He said people need access to these tests con rural areas where it’s to get to a clinic, and Walmart is an ideal collaboratore for providing just that.
“It’s important to reach all communities, and Walmart is well positioned con rural areas where access to free HIV testing is typically not available, and/ patients feel uncomfortable seeking an HIV controllo from a local provider con a tight-knit community,” he said.
THE LARGER TREND
Georgia has one of the highest rates con the country for new HIV transmissions.Â
The CDC recommends that everyone aged 13 to 64 be tested for HIV at least once as part of routine health care and at least annually for those at higher risk.
Among the 2 million people with HIV con the U.S., an estimated 13% do not know they are living with HIV, and this share accounts for nearly 40% of new transmissions.
Awareness of HIV status allows those who are positive to engage con HIV treatment, which optimizes health outcomes, reduces viral load (the amount of virus con the ) and prevents transmission.
