Grindr Partners With Equality Movement and MPOWER to Provide Free At-Home HIV Test Kits to Users in Georgia and Ireland
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Grindr for Equality is committed to using our app to promote LGBTQ+ safety, health, and human rights around the world. Part of that mission is to find ways to increase access to HIV testing. Embedding in-app links to self-test kits has emerged as the most powerful strategy by a considerable margin.
As our fight against the HIV epidemic continues, we are acutely aware that access to in-person testing only is not enough. Barriers to accessing in-person testing include limited clinic operating hours, transportation availability, prohibitive costs, and concerns about both privacy and stigma.
With this announcement, Grindr users in Georgia and Ireland will have new dedicated buttons in the app’s interface. One simple click will allow users to order free at-home HIV self-test kits, twenty-four hours a day. This easy process mirrors the convenience with which many people have been able to access and use COVID tests.
Grindr has a long history of working with both Equality Movement and MPOWER to promote their existing HIV testing programs. Previously, the Grindr app displayed public service announcements making users aware of tests available from both organizations. Today, we are making tests more accessible than ever, allowing users across both countries to take advantage of free at-home tests at any time. Users can rest assured that their privacy is protected if they choose to participate in these programs, as Grindr collects no data through this process.\
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We are incredibly excited to help expand access to global HIV testing. Earlier this year, our partners at Building Healthy Online Communities and Emory University launched Together TakeMeHome (TTMH) with support from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. We were proud to integrate TTMH directly into the Grindr interface, offering free at-home tests to anyone in the U.S. In its first six months, the program has distributed over 230,000 kits, the majority of which went to Grindr users. Nearly a quarter of those orders were placed by first time testers. This shows unequivocally that a significant population of Grindr users want to test, but have been unable to do so without this level of convenience and confidentiality.
In addition to the launch of these partnerships, Grindr will continue its annual commitment to promote the European Test Finder (ETF). The ETF is a website that allows people in Europe to find the nearest place to access testing and treatment services for HIV, Hepatitis B and C, and STIs. Grindr for Equality will promote ETF across 26 countries with messaging in 24 languages over the course of the week.
For Grindr users in Georgia and Ireland who don’t already have a habitual way to test: we encourage you to take advantage of this new program. Please share the news with your friends, know your status, and join us in the fight against the HIV epidemic. We look forward to launching similar programs all over the world.
