Ontario will soon offer a speedy, anonymous test for HIV at 50 sites across the province, including northern and rural communities.

The test for the virus that causes AIDS uses new technology to provide results from a drop of blood in only one minute, compared to two weeks for the current test and three weeks for tests in the past, Health Minister George Smitherman said at a news conference Friday.

"I'm a gay man, and I'm one of those that has experienced that gut-wrenching three-week wait," he said. "Everybody remembers that wait, and accordingly, you can't put a price on it."

Ontario will be the first jurisdiction in Canada to offer the new test, Smitherman said.

Individual patients will be able to take the test for free. Smitherman estimated the program will cost taxpayers about $350,000 a year.

According to the Ministry of Health, the new test is as accurate as current laboratory-based testing.

The entire testing process at one of the designated sites is expected to take 20 minutes, including pre- and post-test counselling as well as the test itself.

If the test generates a positive result, the patient will be given another blood test to be sent to a laboratory to confirm the initial result, the ministry said.

24 new testing sites to open

The new test will be administered at anonymous testing sites, including stand-alone test sites, sexually transmitted disease clinics and community health clinics across the province. They include 26 that already offer anonymous HIV tests and 24 new sites that will open in the fall.

The new test will not be offered in doctors' offices, where tests are not anonymous.

The new test sites include eight in the Greater Toronto Area, seven in the Ottawa area, and a few in northern and smaller communities such as Kenora, Timmins and Leamington.

They are aimed at "providing equitable access across the province," said a news release from the Ontario Ministry of Health.

The province's AIDS bureau estimates 30 per cent of HIV-positive people do not know their status.

With files from the Canadian Press