AB 685, openly gay Assemblymember Mark Leno’s bill designed to help California pilot an HIV finger prick test and allow trained HIV counselors on the front lines of the AIDS epidemic to test high-risk, hard-to-reach populations, was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger this past week.

The legislation takes advantage of the Uni-Gold Recombigen HIV test that was approved by the FDA in December. Traditional laboratory tests can take days or weeks to return results, while the new rapid HIV test can produce results in less than half an hour right before a patient’s eyes. The test requires one drop of blood, serum or plasma. In trials of more than 9,000 patient samples, the test detected 100 percent of the HIV-positive specimens and was 99.7 percent accurate on the negative samples.

“We have waited a long time for the rapid HIV test,” said Leno. “My bill will speed the implementation of this important pilot program and help HIV counselors reach people who are traditionally averse to getting tested, or who do not return for their results. Bureaucratic hurdles and redundant training should not contribute to anyone contracting or spreading HIV.”

Because traditional HIV tests often require individuals to return weeks later for their test results, it is estimated that 30 percent of people who test positive for HIV never return to find out their results. The rapid HIV rapid test yields results in less than an hour, allowing patients to get their results on-site in one visit, at which time they can access important counseling and referral services if they find out they have contracted the virus. San Diego is one of the counties that has been participating in the pilot program using the Rapid HIV test here in California.

“We were one of five counties that assisted them in developing protocols for implementation of rapid testing in HIV testing sites,” Denise Borntrager, the HIC clinic services coordinator with the Office of AIDS Coordination, told the Gay and Lesbian Times. “It’s been really well received by the community. We’re excited by being able to offer this new service and I think clients appreciate it as well.”

The county is currently offering the rapid HIV test free of charge through the HIV services clinic at the Office of AIDS Coordination, located at 3028 5th Ave., on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. They are also offering it through their mobile HIV testing unit, which goes out to a variety of neighborhoods throughout the county.

“It’s open to anybody who would like it,” Borntrager said. “We still offer the other standard HIV testing so this, if you will, has been added to the menu list of tests that people might select.”

Among the local organizations that will be offering the rapid HIV tests in the future is the Asian Pacific Islander Community AIDS Project (APICAP). Minority groups are among one of the many target populations for use of the rapid HIV test because they are often more reluctant to go in and get tested, and many of those who do will not return a week later to get traditional lab results.

Dr. Timothy Sankary, a consultant for APICAP and expert in Rapid HIV testing who wrote the American Public Health Association policy on using rapid HIV testing in labor and delivery, noted that, “They’re often reluctant to go into testing sites for a variety of reasons. But if they are reluctant and they have been contemplating having a test … the beauty of the rapid HIV test is you can see first hand your test results, right under your eyes.”

AB 685 will also allow HIV counselors to become certified to administer the rapid HIV test by passing a state-approved literacy protocol, but without requiring them to have a GED or high school diploma. Many of the HIV counselors who are best equipped to relate to and reach underserved populations of people at high risk for HIV are former intravenous drug users or sex workers who have not necessarily finished formal schooling but are imminently qualified to administer the simple finger prick test. The bill also declares the intent for the Department of Health Service’s Office of AIDS to develop a less costly, streamlined curriculum to train HIV counselors.

“HIV counselors are on the front lines of the AIDS epidemic and are trusted by individuals in some of our toughest, hardest to serve neighborhoods,” said Leno. “It makes sense that we arm them with this simple, effective test that can literally save people’s lives.”

In addition to reaching groups that may not otherwise be tested or get their results, the rapid HIV test has applications for preventing the spread of the disease. In urgent cases, such as when health care workers are accidentally exposed to a patient’s blood via a needle stick, patients can quickly be tested to see if they are HIV-positive. If the patients test positive healthcare workers can be treated with a combination of anti-HIV drugs within a few hours of exposure, reducing the chance that the worker will become infected with HIV.

The Uni-Gold Recombigen HIV test is expected to cost doctors and hospitals $10 per test and will compete directly with OraSure Technologies Inc.’s OraQuick Rapid HIV-1 test that was approved in November 2002. Both tests are expected to lower the cost of HIV testing as their use becomes more widespread.