Grindr - The Gay Dating App Reminds Users To Get Themselves HIV Tested

World's largest gay dating app, Grindr has added an update feature to remind users to get themselves tested for HIV. This app not only reminds them but also offers them the location of their nearest health clinic.

Grindr, which claims to have 3.3 million daily users from every country in the world, will send men who opt into the service a reminder every three to six months, and simultaneously point them to the nearest testing site, The New York Times reported.

‘It is recommended that sexually active gay men should get themselves tested at least once a year as more than 107,000 gay and bisexual men in the US seem to have HIV but still do not know it. And the ones who are at a higher risk of getting HIV should get themselves tested every three to six months.’

It will also let clinics, gay community centers, and other testing sites advertise for free.

The company is making a move to " reduce HIV transmission and support our whole community - regardless of HIV status - in living long and fulfilling lives," Jack Harrison-Quintana, Grindr's director for equality, said on Monday.

HIV experts greeted the announcement enthusiastically.

"Wow, that's great! For a company of this magnitude to do this is groundbreaking," said Jeffrey D. Klausner, a former chief of sexually transmitted disease prevention in San Francisco who has used Grindr to promote testing.

Perry N. Halkitis, dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health and an expert in gay male behavior, called the decision "excellent."

Jonathan Mermin, chief of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said many men who use location-based phone apps to find other men nearby are considered at high risk of getting infected.

Therefore, "all effective efforts to increase testing are welcome," The New York Times quoted Mermin as saying.

The Centre recommends that sexually active gay men get tested at least once a year and those at highest risk get tested every three to six months.

More than 107,000 gay and bisexual men in the US have HIV but do not know it, according to Mermin.

Source: IANS