While some HIV testing kits sell for $25-50, one Long Island company is selling theirs for $5.
Chembio Diagnotics of Medford sells HIV testing kits to public health clinics and institutions across the country. The kits allow clinics to test for HIV with small blood or saliva samples.
CEO John Sperzel says the company changed distributors and decided to pass on some of the savings to its customers.
“We think this is a compelling argument to allow public health facilities to do more HIV testing. We don’t seem to be doing enough to identify infections that curb the rate of new infections each year.”
Sperzel says something needed to be done because one in eight Americans with HIV does not know they have it.
Health officials say about 600 people in Connecticut and Long Island are infected with HIV each year.
