Fact Sheet: Confidentiality and HIV Testing

Most counseling and testing centers follow one of two very different policies regarding the confidentiality of your test results:

Confidential HIV testing involves recording the name of the person who tests positive and reporting confidentially those names to public health authorities. Confidential testing is available in all states. Confidentiality laws and regulations protect against disclosure of the information. You should ask who will know your result and how it will be stored.

In most cases, laboratory staff and, in some states, state health department personnel will have access to test results. If you have an HIV antibody test done confidentially, you can sign a release form to have your test result sent to your doctor. If the results do become a part of your medical record, then the results can be seen by health care workers, insurers or employers. A person's HIV status may also become known if he or she makes a health insurance claim or applies for life or disability insurance.

Anonymous HIV testing is not available in all states. Anonymous HIV testing means that no name is provided to the particular testing center. Instead of a name, the person is allocated a unique identifier code. This means that you are the only one who can tell anyone else your result.

Another form of testing available to the public is the home collection kit. These kits can be purchased over the counter at most drug stores. The only home test approved by the Food and Drug Administration is the Home Access test. The testing procedure involves pricking your finger, placing drops of blood on a specially treated card, then mailing the card in for testing at a licensed laboratory. Customers are given an identification number to use when phoning for the test results. Callers may also speak to a counselor before taking the test, while waiting for the test result, and when getting the result.

What Should I Do If I Test Positive for HIV?

Testing positive for HIV changes your life dramatically. Early medical attention and treatment can be the first step to a longer life and delaying the onset of AIDS. Leading a healthy lifestyle can help prevent life-threatening conditions.

• Practice safer sex with partners and don't share needles.

• See a doctor, even if you don't feel sick. Monitoring and appropriate medical action are the ways to slow the growth of HIV and delay the onset of AIDS.

• Seek counseling to help deal with the consequences of your result. Meeting with other HIV-infected people by joining a support group can help to build confidence in your ability to lead a healthy and fulfilling life.

• Take a tuberculosis and hepatitis C test. You could become seriously ill if you allow these conditions to go undetected.

• Stop smoking, drinking too much alcohol, and using drugs. These substances can weaken your immune system and allow the virus to duplicate more rapidly.