Obtaining a rapid HIV self-testing kit has become more convenient, with online orders now available for collection at local convenience stores, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Friday.
There are two types of rapid testing kits, one that tests saliva and the other blood, and people can purchase them at designated locations or have them sent to the convenience store of their choice, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
Previously, the blood testing kit could only be bought at 408 designated locations nationwide, leaving the saliva kit as the only one available to be ordered online and collected at a convenience store, he said.
Photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control
The rapid self-testing kit costs NT$200, but there is an additional NT$45 charge for delivery to convenience store chains Family Mart, OK Mart or Hi Life, the centers said.
The rapid HIV testing kit can be purchased online at: otc.cdc.gov.tw.
Those who purchase the kit online would receive a free packet of condoms and lubricant, Chuang said, adding that the offer would be valid for purchases at any of the designated locations until June 30.
People who engage in unprotected sex should take an HIV test at least once every year, and those with multiple sex partners should take the test once every three to six months, the centers said.
Without treatment, an HIV infection develops into AIDS.
A total of 1,992 new cases of HIV were reported among Taiwanese last year, and there were 1,091 AIDS cases the same year, CDC statistics showed.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Taiwanese singer Jay Chou (周杰倫) plans to take to the courts of the Australian Open for the first time as a competitor in the high-stakes 1 Point Slam. The Australian Open yesterday afternoon announced the news on its official Instagram account, welcoming Chou — who celebrates his 47th birthday on Sunday — to the star-studded lineup of the tournament’s signature warm-up event. “From being the King of Mandarin Pop filling stadiums with his music to being Kato from The Green Hornet and now shifting focus to being a dedicated tennis player — welcome @jaychou to the 1 Point Slam and #AusOpen,” the
RSS