HIV Rapid Test
March 11, 2007 by anisdash
Volunteer? Nope. It’s because it’s one of the requirement to any Perak citizen and any other state’s citizen who wants to get married with Perak citizen. But don’t worry, other states also applied, including Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan. You cannot escape from it.
Well, first step is to buy the HIV form from Pejabat Agama Daerah for rm5. But somehow, in Selangor, it’s double, rm10 per form. And you must buy 2 forms, one for you and another for your partner.
Then, from the listed Perak panel government medical center, you can choose one which suits your schedule. Off we go to Pusat Kesihatan Padang Rengas, Kuala Kangsar on Friday morning, registering for HIV Rapid Test.
496 - That’s the number for both of us. When the number is called, we were required to go to the lab. Nervous. In Selangor, they will take 10ml blood out of you. And that’s good enough to make me shiver. I was praying that they will use the first method - a drop of blood from finger tip. And yes, my prayer is answered. Phew!!!
After asking permission from the (what they call lab guy eh?) guy, we were allowed to take photo during the process.
Cool guy. My turn first. My most tough-but-useless finger is my left pointing finger. So I sacrifice that one. He opened a new sterilized kit to punch a hole to my finger. In a blink, blood started to come out, slowly. No, too slow. The guy has to put pressure on my finger, so that he can draw more blood. Actually, no more blood left, as I was totally pale at that time.
Then he opened a sterilized HIV tester kit (which look like a pregnancy test kit), and dropped the blood on it. Then he put tiny gauze on my finger and asked me to wait outside. 15 minutes to see the results.
Then comes Dash’s turn. Dash sacrifices his right middle finger. May be he rarely use that one.
After 15 minutes, we get both results – Not reactive. That’s good news if you don’t understand, no HIV sign. If reactive, they will take another 15ml of your blood sample, because you are potential HIV carrier. And you have to go through another test and counseling and what so ever.
Total time taken for the test is 30 minutes. And it’s free. Before this, the test is only taken by mothers-to-be during early pregnancy. And now, anybody can take the test voluntarily. The test result is valid for 6 months. And for marriage license application, couples have to do it 3 months before their wedding. If more than that, you have to run the test again.