Grindr to Provide HIV Tests for Users in Ireland and Georgia

Image: Grindr

Grindr has announced it has partnered with Equality in Movement in Georgia and MPOWER in Ireland to connect its users in these countries with at-home HIV testing kits.

According to the company’s blog post, Grindr says it wants to address the global HIV epidemic by making it easier for its users to have access to testing. While many countries have local testing centers, they can still be difficult to access, expensive, and many people still don’t want the stigma of going to a public place to get tested.

Users in Georgia and Ireland will have dedicated buttons on the app’s interface to order at-home self-test kits, any time of day. The app wanted the access to tests to be as simple as Covid tests have become for most folks. The company also wants to encourage more people to test for HIV by alleviating the stigma with in-person tests and allowing them to test in the privacy of their own home.

“As our fight against the HIV epidemic continues, we are acutely aware that access to in-person testing only is not enough," the post reads. "Barriers to accessing in-person testing include limited clinic operating hours, transportation availability, prohibitive costs, and concerns about both privacy and stigma.”

The collaboration comes during European Testing Week, and also at a time when the company faces a lawsuit in the U.K. regarding the sharing of HIV data with third parties. Grindr says it will fight the lawsuit as the company did not violate its privacy policy. However, this lawsuit could be a disincentive for users to choose the at-home tests, if Grindr might share this personal data with third parties, or if it uses this data in any way without user consent.

Earlier this year, Grindr partnered with Building Healthy Online Communities and Emory University to launch Together TakeMeHome (TTMH) with support from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, according to the company’s announcement. Grindr made TTMH part of its interface, offering free at-home HIV tests to U.S. residents.

In the first six months of being available, the program has distributed over 230,000 kits, and nearly a quarter were used 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,” Grindr said.

Grindr already provides access to the European Test Finder (ETF) which helps people in Europe locate testing centers for HIV, STIs and Hepatitis B and C.