Grindr users no longer have to worry about forgetting to get blood work done. The queer hook-up app is introducing a service that will remind its userbase to go for HIV testing every three to six months.
The service, which went live yesterday, lets the app’s 3.6 million users immediately gain automatic and discreet updates for HIV testing straight from the app, according to a press release from Grindr. Grindr has also partnered with LGBTQ center locator CenterLink to develop free HIV testing site ads, helping patients find nearby centers to check their status.
“In many parts of the country, LGBTQ community centers are the only places for miles where LGBTQ people can go to feel safe, and we hear of people who travel great lengths just to get tested,” CenterLink deputy director Denise Spivak said in the press release. “With free ads, Grindr gives under-resourced centers a way to reach out to these individuals […] who otherwise might never have known that the centers were able to help.”
To activate the new feature, users simply need to head to their Edit Profile section under Sexual Health. The service is opt-in by default, meaning Grindr users won’t receive HIV testing notifications unless they seek out the function.
HIV infections remain a national health crisis, particularly for the LGBTQ community. The CDC reports that in 2016, 39,782 people were diagnosed with HIV, with gay and bisexual men making up 67 percent of all infections. Queer Black men were the largest demographic to experience new diagnoses that year, with over 10,000 people infected.