A crucial new low-cost blood test for HIV sufferers in developing countries that could help 33 million people worldwide may be available later this year.

The simple test developed by researchers at Melbourne's Burnet Institute shows how much damage the HIV virus has done to the immune system and whether lifesaving antiretroviral drugs are required.

The finger-prick blood test would ideally target developing African and Asian countries where laboratories and expensive equipment normally needed to carry out the tests are scarce, said Co-head of Burnet's Centre for Virology Professor Suzanne Crowe.

The CD4 test, which gives on-the-spot results in 40 minutes, measures an individual's CD4 levels, which indicate whether HIV is progressing to AIDS.

"It will tell the health worker if the person's immune system has declined to the level where they require treatment for HIV," said Prof Crowe, who developed the test with Burnet Institute deputy director Associate Professor David Anderson.

Prof Anderson said the device could provide cost-effective testing for up to 33 million patients worldwide.

Another CD4 test is currently available for developing countries but it is more expensive, requires medical equipment and trained health workers to extract blood from veins.

The new test will cost less than $2, which would probably be subsidised by governments or philanthropic organisations, and works a bit like a pregnancy test in terms of its immediacy, Prof Crowe said.

Currently, people in remote areas in developing countries may have to walk for days to reach a clinic for HIV tests, with results often taking weeks.

The individual would then need to return to the clinic for follow-up tests to determine if antiretroviral drugs are needed.

While antiretroviral drugs are available, in order to qualify people need a CD4 test to prove they have a weakened immune system.

"It's a catch-22 at the moment because often the drugs are available but the test to give them access to the treatment is too expensive or not available," Prof Crowe told AAP.

"This will be a test which circumvents all of that."

Prof Crowe said with same day test results, HIV sufferers could potentially start drug treatment on the same day.

The approach would prevent losing contact with people who failed to return for follow-up consultations - a major hurdle to people missing out on treatment at the right time, Prof Crowe said.

The new test, which was licensed for commercial development this week to Omega Diagnostics Group, can be carried out by a health worker without a laboratory.

It doesn't require medical equipment, electricity, batteries or refrigeration.

Prof Crowe said the test would hopefully be available by the end of 2012.

Aid agencies in Papua New Guinea, India and South Africa are likely to be the first to access the test.