Five million South Africans are infected with HIV

Sama chairman Dr Kgosi Letlape emphasised the dangers of performing an HIV test without counselling before and after the test.

A Pick 'n Pay retail chain director said they would not sell them again unless guidelines could be met.

More than five million South Africans are HIV positive.

"This commercial activity should be stopped immediately because it could be harmful to patients," Dr Letlape said.

Counselling

"Proper counselling is essential to assist patients in understanding exactly what the test entails and the test results," he added.

Rapid HIV testing must be conducted according to the same ethical standards as for any other HIV test including pre and post-test counselling Health Department guidelines

Sama spokeswoman Tracy Sage said most South African pharmacies had also decided not to stock the kits, unless they had a person on duty who was qualified to offer counselling.

Ethical standards

Pick 'n Pay's marketing manager Jonathan Ackerman said the products had been sold by one of its franchises without the company's permission.

But he added that he supported the idea of selling them in principle, and was "looking into" the possibility of stocking them in the future, in a way that complied with the appropriate guidelines.

South Africa has no legislation governing self-test kits, but according to the health department's guidelines, "rapid HIV testing must be conducted according to the same ethical standards as for any other HIV test including pre and post-test counselling, informed consent, privacy, confidentiality and the right of refusal".

Andrew Nathaniel, a director of the company Homelab which is marketing the product in South Africa, was quoted in the South African newspaper The Star as saying the test was 99.5 % accurate, but added that "people using the product still need to go to a doctor or a laboratory to have a diagnostic test."