New STI home-testing kit is set to hit the market & it’s good news for queer men especially
a third of all cases were in gay and bisexual men. Health authorities are taking novel steps to try and tackle this problem.
On Wednesday, the FDA announced its approval of a gonorrhea and chlamydia home-testing kit.People will soon be able to buy the Simple 2 Test at a pharmacy and take a specimen at home.
They then send their sample to a designated laboratory for testing. The kit will reportedly cost $99 and a result will be sent in 2-5 days.It’s the first time the FDA has approved a home-test kit for an STI besides HIV.“This authorization marks an important public health milestone, giving patients more information about their health from the privacy of their own home,” said Dr Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health in a statement. “We are eager to continue supporting greater consumer access to diagnostic tests, which helps further our goal of bringing more health care into the home.”News of the home-test kit comes a few weeks after the CDC gave its stamp of approval to DoxyPEP.
This entails taking a dose of antibiotics after sex to lower the chances of contracting gonorrhea. DoxyPEP was already being offered at a small number of clinics in San Francisco but will now be expanded elsewhere.Like the US, the UK has also seen an increase in STIs, and gay men are again disproportionately affected.
