About Anonymous HIV Testing Centers

Anonymous HIV testing centers exist to help people who want to know about their status without having their name attached to any permanent record. While it is illegal to discriminate in hiring or housing based on HIV status, many prefer to keep their medical information completely private. This helps to encourage people who might otherwise shy away from getting tested to go ahead with it.

History

• Anonymous HIV testing centers reassure the people who patronize them that their health provider will not report their status to anyone else. In the past, many testing services required that people getting tested disclose their sexual and drug use history along with their contact information. The requirements were intended to reduce the spread of HIV, to ensure that people who have had sexual contact with HIV positive people get tested as well to arrest the spread of the virus.

Considerations

• One of the prime side effects of this practice was to discourage many people from getting tested. As they were afraid of what would happen to their social network if it turned out that they tested positive, they instead preferred to remain ignorant. As the symptoms of AIDS can take years to develop, show and be noticed by a doctor outside of a blood test, the reporting function has the reverse effect of its original intention. As such, many states have passed laws against the practice.

Function

• When someone goes to an anonymous HIV testing service, she provides her name, which gets attached to her test results. Even with anonymous testing services, the test information can still be reported in many states to health insurance companies, the state Department of Health and the individual's physician. Many standard testing services allow the patient to sign a form calling for anonymous testing.

Types

• Home testing kits are also available to those who want to gain even greater anonymity. The test kits are sent out in the mail. The patient can send in his sample to an independent testing company to get the results. This has the additional benefit of avoiding a visit to a hospital.

Benefits

• The primary benefit of this kind of testing is that it reduces the anxiety that at-risk patients feel around getting tested. Anything that lowers that benefits the cause of public health and fighting the spread of HIV. Even though the service is anonymous, many people who do discover that they are HIV positive inform their past partners in any case.