Free rapid HIV screening tests, which produce results in as little as 20 minutes, were offered Tuesday for the first time in Allegheny County, according to the county Health Department.
The Southwestern Pennsylvania AIDS Planning Coalition and the Sickle Cell Society are offering the finger-prick blood tests in Homewood free of charge twice a week as part of a six-month pilot program, said Doyen Desalu, the coalition's executive director.
Coalition officials and the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force -- which is planning to use a $310,000 federal grant to also offer the rapid HIV tests -- said people frequently do not return for the results of traditional AIDS tests, which can take up to 10 days.
"A lot of people don't want to know their status," task force spokeswoman Gina Focareta said. While 77 percent of people who get tested in the task force's offices return for their results, only 42 percent of those tested at community centers or bars do, she said.
The coalition sees a return rate of between 30 percent and 45 percent, Desalu said. Under state law, results must be given in person.
People get the results of the rapid tests before they leave the clinic. The rapid test, sold as the OraQuick Rapid HIV-1 Antibody Test, is considered a screening. Anyone who tests positive is said to be "reactive" and must get a standard HIV test for confirmation.
However, 99.6 percent of those who are "reactive" later test positive, according to Desalu.
"There are some people who will test positive who are not HIV positive when you do this screening test," county Health Department spokesman Guillermo Cole said. Medications and some illnesses can produce false positives, he said.
The Southwestern Pennsylvania AIDS Planning Coalition tests are offered between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.; and from 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Sickle Cell Society Clinic, 7643 Frankstown Ave.
The Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force hopes to offer the tests by the end of the year, likely in a predominantly black neighborhood in East Pittsburgh, Focareta said. Black women are one of the highest risk groups for AIDS.
The nonprofit is using part of the $310,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to buy the rapid tests, and the rest to expand its prevention programs and launch the Positive Prevention Initiative, an education campaign targeting black women and bisexual men, Focareta said.
The grant is renewable for an additional four years.
