Free 'rapid result' AIDS test

A $1.2 million project is set to offer free rapid HIV tests at pharmacies and in-store clinics in 24 cities and rural communities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Tuesday.

Made by OraSure Technologies Inc, the $17.50 test is the only government-approved rapid HIV test that uses saliva [photo: AP]

Officials are hoping testing for the AIDS virus will become a routine service at drugstores like blood pressure checks and flu shots.

'By bringing HIV testing into pharmacies, we believe we can reach more people by making testing more accessible and reduce the stigma associated with HIV,' CDC's Dr. Kevin Fenton said in a statement. He oversees the agency's HIV prevention programs.

The HIV test is a swab inside the mouth and takes about 20 minutes for a preliminary result. The test maker says it's correct 99 per cent of the time. 

Read more: Daily Mail

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UK Offers Free HIV treatment for foreigners

Foreign nationals are to be offered free treatment for HIV on the NHS under plans backed by the government.

Campaigners say the move in England will reduce the risk of Britons being infected and cut the costs of more expensive later treatment.

Currently only British residents are eligible, which excludes migrants.

The Department of Health said it would bring England into line with Scotland and Wales, and there would be safeguards against "health tourism".

Read more: BBC Health

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Sex Trafficking Survivor Fights Slavery And HIV/AIDS In Cambodia

Full Story: Huffington Post 30 Nov

At a time when the World AIDS Day is being observed around the world to create awareness about the deadly disease, let the voice of a sex trafficking victim and survivor be also heard, who years of abuse is helping others for a safe life.

Sold into prostitution at 12 by her grandfather, Somaly Mam was brutalized and raped -- sometimes up to 10 times a day -- throughout her teenage years. While Mam made an unlikely escape to France from the brothel in Cambodia, she couldn't tolerate the cushy life there knowing that thousands of girls were being tortured at home.

She came back in 1996 to the slums of Cambodia and has been fighting forced prostitution and the rampant transmission of HIV/AIDS ever since. Mam has saved more than 4,000 slaves since she started her advocacy work.

Read full story for details and struggle of this brave woman

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