Goal of HIV Testing and Counselling
The goal of HIV testing and counselling (HTC) is two-fold. Firstly, HTC provides knowledge of one’s HIV status, and creates an ideal situation that facilitates adoption of HIV prevention and transmission knowledge, mitigating the impact of HIV through psychosocial support to infected and affected. Secondly, HTC serves as an entry point to HIV treatment, care and supportive services.
HTC Strategies
- Enhancing equitable access to HIV Testing and Counselling by all Malawians
- Scale Up Provision of HIV Testing and Counselling services
- Strengthen Quality of HIV Testing and Counselling Services
- Development of Human Resource Capacity for delivery of HIV Testing Services
- Creation of Demand for HIV Testing Services
- Development and Dissemination of HIV Testing and Counselling Resource Materials
- Operational Research
- Client initiated
- Provider initiated
- Mandatory testing
- HIV Surveillance and Research Based HTC
- Identify as many HIV infected people as possible.
- Identify them as early as possible after getting infected.
- Enrol them into pre-ART or ART care as soon as possible.
Types of HTC
HIV testing and counselling (HTC) is the main gateway for HIV prevention and treatment. HTC is offered in various forms: client-initiated, community based, etc. Models of delivering HTC include: stand-alone, integrated, outreach, mobile, home-based, door-to-door.
The main HTC Program goals are:
Additional goal of HTC is to link HIV negatives to appropriate prevention services (VMMC, etc.) and to encourage retesting based on the client risk assessment.
PITC: Ascertain HIV status for all patients attending health services (ANC, maternity, TB, STI, FP, U1 / U5, adult and paediatric wards).Remind patients during pre-test education (group or individual) that they can decline HIV-testing without any ‘fear of punishment’ by the health worker.Encourage patients to attend HTC with their sexual partner. Ensure that all children (including adolescents) of HIV infected parents are tested.