The Federal Ministry of Health has said that Insti HIV ½, Insti Multiplex Dual HIV1/2 and Syphilis antibody rapid tests kits are the new first-line kit in the national HIV testing algorithm.

The National Coordinator of the National AIDS, STI and Hepatitis Control Programme, Segilola Araoye, made this known while giving a report of the laboratory evaluation of the tests kits in Abuja.

Araoye explained that the result of the evaluation showed that Insti HIV1/2 had specificity and sensitivity of 99.7% respectively while Insti multiplex HIV 1/2 Syphilis antibody has sensitivity and specificity of 100 per cent respectively.

“The term specificity is the ability of a test to correctly exclude individuals who do not have a given disease or disorder while sensitivity is the ability of a test to correctly identify people who have a given disease or disorder,” he said.

Araoye noted that it was vital to conduct an accurate diagnosis of HIV early, using reliable tests and testing strategy. He added that this would aid the effectiveness of intervention for the control of the epidemic.

At the event, Chairman Technical Committee for Evaluation of HIV Testing Technologies, Manason Rubainu, said the test kits was in line with the requirements for first-line testing of HIV and syphilis.