State Department of Health Highlights HIV Home Test Giveaway In Honor of Pride Month

Qualify for a HIV Home Test Here, To Learn Your HIV Status Without Sending a Sample to Lab or Visiting a Provider

Approximately 31% of Those Who Received a Free HIV Home Test Had Never Before Been Tested

ALBANY, N.Y. (June 16, 2022) – In honor of Pride Month this June, the New York State Department of Health's AIDS Institute is highlighting the importance of HIV home testing as a tool to empower individuals to take control of their sexual health and mitigate the spread of HIV. To make HIV testing easier, the Department launched its seventh HIV Home Test Giveaway, which runs statewide outside of New York City, from May 2 through June 19.

"We are giving away free HIV home testing kits because they are an accurate, quick and private way for people to learn their HIV status," said State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett. "Whatever your status, knowing your status empowers you to take steps to protect your health- whether it's getting on treatment or considering PrEP. The HIV Home Test Giveaway is another investment in our response to ending the HIV endemic in New York State."

New York State's first HIV Home Test Giveaway began in 2016 as a pilot project to reach those who identify as men who have sex with men. For this latest giveaway, the Department of Health's public health experts expanded access to prioritize the broader LGBTQ+ community including transgender or genderqueer/gender non-conforming people who have sex with men, and heterosexual, bisexual cisgender Black women, as well as men who have sex with men. This fall, the Department is planning another HIV Home Test Giveaway which will be expanded to include cisgender Latinas as part of the priority populations.

An HIV home test kit allows people to know their HIV status quickly, accurately and conveniently. Testing and identifying people with HIV who remain undiagnosed and linking them to supportive healthcare services is the first point in the State's plan to End the Epidemic.

Current estimates indicate that over 112,000 New Yorkers are living with HIV, approximately 7,000 of whom do not know their HIV status. Since the start of the HIV home test giveaway, 31% of program participants reported that they had never been tested for HIV.

To receive a free HIV home test, individuals complete an eligibility survey and if eligible, they are emailed a promotional code that is redeemable at OraSure Technologies' website, the Department's partner on this initiative. Individuals may also receive the eligibility survey by texting the word 'test' to 40457 at any time throughout the year. Additional information and resources about HIV testing are also available to all New Yorkers at the Department's website.

The Department's AIDS Institute promotes the HIV Home Test Giveaway through creative digital advertising on social media networks such a Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and online dating apps. Posters advertising the giveaway are also featured at high-traffic locations such a bus shelters and neighborhood grocery stores.

To locate a free, confidential HIV, STD or hepatitis test, visit gettested.cdc.gov.

To learn more about the AIDS Institute and HIV, visit health.ny.gov.