HIV tests sent by mail for paid analysis hit a record high in 2011, with the number roughly half that of tests conducted free of charge at designated facilities nationwide, a research team of the health ministry said Monday.
The figure shows wide use of the easy-to-use method, but the team is concerned the mail service users, who are not required to meet doctors and nurses, do not have access to sufficient information and followup care.
HIV tests handled by mail in 2011 numbered 65,640, half the approximately 130,000 tests taken at public health care centers and about an 18-fold increase from 2001, when the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry started collecting the oldest comparable data.