If you have symptoms now
If you have any of the following symptoms call 0800 739 432 to talk to a nurse before completing a request:
- sores in your mouth, genital skin or bottom
- body rash
- any other STI symptom.
What happens when you send a request
Your request will be sent to Awanui Labs and you can go there to have your blood test after 2 business days.
Results can take up to one week. You will only be contacted if your test is positive for syphilis or HIV.
Find an Awanui Labs Centre near you
If you are diagnosed with syphilis or HIV, Auckland Sexual Health Service will organise treatment for you. Treatment is free and confidential for everyone.
Make a request
Who can get a free test
Anyone is eligible for free HIV and syphilis testing through our service. If a test is positive, treatment is also free, regardless of residential status.
If you would like a full STI check, including chlamydia and gonorrhoea tests as well as HIV and syphilis, contact us to see if you are eligible through our service.
What syphilis is
There is an outbreak of syphilis in Tāmaki Makaurau.
Symptoms are often invisible, so people do not even know they have it until they have a blood test. Syphilis is easy to identify and easy to treat. Treatment is simple — antibiotics cure syphilis.
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection that you can get through having close sexual contact, including oral sex. Syphilis is a serious infection and can affect your heart, brain and even cause death if untreated. If you have syphilis while you are pregnant, it can affect your pēpi — up to 40% of babies with congenital syphilis will die.
What HIV is
HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that damages the cells in your immune system and weakens its ability to fight everyday infections and diseases. HIV can be passed on through body fluids such as:
- blood
- semen
- rectal and vaginal fluids
- breast milk.
To find out if you have HIV you need to have an HIV blood test.
Without treatment, people can get very sick. HIV may not cause health issues for a few years, so it is important to get tested, even if you do not have any symptoms. There is no cure but excellent treatment is available. With treatment, people can stay well and live as long as someone without HIV. It is best to start treatment as soon as possible.
When a person with HIV is on effective treatment the virus becomes undetectable in their blood. Once someone is stable on treatment, with undetectable virus for at least 6 months, there is zero risk of sexual transmission. This is known as U=U (undetectable = untransmittable).