The health authorities are concerned about the availability of HIV home tests that could give patients a false reassurance that they are not infected.
Experts are worried not only because home tests skip a very important part of the process - counselling both before and after the results - but also because they are considered unreliable.
Genitourinary Clinic chairman Philip Carabot described home tests as "rubbish", saying that they should not be used.
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department head Charmaine Gauci said the test kits available on the local market do not test for all strains of HIV. Even if carried out properly they might give rise to false reassurance which could also prompt an infected person to go on having unprotected sex.
Moreover, both doctors explained that there is a window period of between three and six months during which an infected person does not test positive for HIV; the body takes a while before it creates the antibodies that are detected by the test.
"Invariably, every Monday we get a handful of people calling the GU clinic to get tested following risky sexual contacts over the weekend," said Dr Carabot, adding that this would be far too early.
Even if a home kit is 100 per cent reliable, if a patient carries out the test too early it might give him a false positive.
Both Dr Carabot and Dr Gauci pointed out that anyone wanting to get tested for HIV would have likely engaged in risky behaviour that puts them in danger of other diseases, like hepatitis, chlamydia or gonorrhoea.
"These patients might have been exposed to other pathogens for which they are not being screened," Dr Gauci said.
The Public Health Regulation Division yesterday issued a statement recommending that people wishing to be tested for HIV should consult their doctor rather than use home tests.
It said that it had become aware that HIV home test kits are available both on the local market as well as online. "Anyone having an HIV test should have counselling both before and after the test by a trained professional. It is essential that the person is well informed before taking the test and that the result is given by a professional who can advise on the result, irrespective of the outcome."
HIV tests are available free of charge from all government health centres, the Mater Dei Hospital and the GU Clinic at Boffa Hospital where confidentiality is assured and patients are given all the necessary information about prevention, treatment and follow-ups.