Poetry Trail Project

HIV Self-Test Kits: An Informational Overview

Introduction

HIV self-test kits are diagnostic tools that allow individuals to test themselves for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in a private setting. These kits are designed to be easy to use and provide quick results, helping people know their HIV status without needing to visit a clinic or laboratory.

What HIV Self-Test Kits Are

An HIV self-test kit typically includes a simple sample collection tool (such as a finger-prick lancet or oral swab), test components, and instructions. Users collect a small sample of blood or oral fluid and apply it to the test device. After following the included steps, results are displayed directly on the test device, often within minutes.

How the Testing Process Works

They said poetry lives in books—

But I found it,

dripping from a streetlight at dawn,

scribbled in chalk outside a closed café,

humming through the metro rails

as the city remembered how to breathe.