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"It's amazing how quick it is," Britain's Prince Harry says of test on Facebook Live
He says everyone should be tested for HIV to normalize the process
A simple jab of the finger is all it takes for a prince of England to bring attention to the fight against HIV.
On Thursday, Prince Harry headed to a London clinic to get tested for HIV live on Facebook to show people how simple it is to take the test.
Kensington Palace posted a link to the video on its Twitter feed along with a photo.
The whole process – taking the test and learning the results – took less than four minutes.
“It’s amazing how quick it is,” said Harry, who tested negative for HIV.
After getting the results, the prince encouraged people to get tested, even those who don’t think they have been exposed, in an effort to normalize the process.
“It’s better that everyone goes and gets tested. Why wouldn’t you? Whether you’re a man, woman, gay, straight, black, white, whatever, even ginger, why wouldn’t you come and have a test?” he said.
Kensington Palace tweeted Harry took the test live because he “believes his generation needs to take leadership in the fight against HIV, or risk losing the gains of those who’ve come before.”
The palace tweeted he will also meet with a number of advocates Thursday. He is scheduled to head to Durban, South Africa, next week for the 21st International AIDS Conference. The conference runs Monday through July 22.
About 36.7 million people were living with HIV worldwide at the end of 2015, according to the World Health Organization, and 17 million people were on antiretroviral therapy.
