Voluntary Counselling and Testing and its Rationale for HIV Infection

Background: There is compelling evidence that male circumcision (MC) is associated with reduced risk of contracting HIV. For this reason, MC is recommended for countries like Namibia where HIV prevalence is high and MC rates are low. Following this recommendation, a national MC campaign was considered to introduce MC as an additional HIV prevention strategy with the intention of rolling it out in communities where MC is not traditionally practised and where heterosexually transmitted HIV infection rates are high. Little is known about the acceptability of MC in traditionally non-circumcising communities in Northern Namibia.Objective: This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes and practices of MC among men presenting for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) in a traditionally non-circumcising ethnic group in the northern Namibia.Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 331 Oshiwambo-speaking males aged 18 years and older, presenting for VCT services. Data was analysed using Epi-Info 2008, Version 3.5.1.Results: The self-reported prevalence of MC in the study sample was 15.4%, with 38% of those reporting being circumcised during their childhood (1-13 years) and 44% being circumcised for health-related reasons. Most respondents (n = 241, 74.4%) had heard that MC reduces the men’s risk of HIV infection. Up to 53.1% of the respondents had good knowledge regarding MC; moreover, the majority of the respondents (n = 194, 66.6%) reported that it is easier for uncircumcised men to acquire HIV infection. It was found that men aged 25 to 34 years were more willing to be circumcised than the other age groups.Conclusions: A high level of knowledge of MC was revealed. Accordingly, the idea of MC is likely to be accepted, especially if it is implemented to reduce the risk of HIV infection.

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Awareness and willingness towards pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV infection among individuals seeking voluntary counselling and testing for HIV in Taiwan: a cross-sectional questionnaire survey

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2016-015142 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (10) ◽

pp. e015142 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Yi-Chieh Lee ◽

Sui-Yuan Chang ◽

Kuan-Yin Lin ◽

Lan-Hsin Chang ◽

Wen-Chun Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hiv Infection ◽

Multivariate Logistic Regression Analysis ◽

Casual Sex ◽

Male Gender ◽

Full Time ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Voluntary Counselling ◽

Risky Sexual Behaviours ◽

Exposure Prophylaxis ◽

Voluntary Counselling And Testing

ObjectivesWe aimed to investigate the awareness and willingness towards pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among individuals seeking voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) for HIV in Taiwan, where PrEP is currently not reimbursed by the insurance.MethodsBetween April and October 2016, a questionnaire interview was conducted among VCT clients to inquire about the attitudes towards PrEP against HIV infection. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the associated factors with willingness to initiate PrEP.ResultsDuring the 6-month period, 1173 VCT clients (99.8%) completed the interviews, with 67.4% being homosexual or bisexual male. While 67.2% of the clients knew of postexposure prophylaxis, 40.2% heard of PrEP. Overall, 546 clients (46.5%) were willing to initiate PrEP and 89.5% of them would choose event-driven PrEP. In multivariate analysis, male gender (OR 1.796; 95% CI 1.165 to 2.768), full-time job (OR 1.354; 95% CI 1.052 to 1.742), one-night stand (OR 1.374; 95% CI 1.043 to 1.810), having casual sex partners within 3 months (OR 1.329; 95% CI 1.031 to 1.714), condomless anal sex (OR 1.405; 95% CI 1.122 to 1.878) and ever having chemsex or attending a drug party in the past 1 year (OR 2.571; 95% CI 1.541 to 4.287), regular screening for HIV infection (OR 1.321; 95% CI 1.021 to 1.711) and knowledge of PrEP (OR 1.504; 95% CI, 1.159 to 1.953) were associated with willingness to initiate PrEP.ConclusionsUnderstanding the willingness to initiate PrEP against HIV among the VCT clients in Taiwan, which was associated with male gender, risky sexual behaviours and awareness of PrEP, will help inform the implementation of PrEP programme.

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Alcohol and khat use as risk factors for HIV infection among visitors to voluntary counselling and testing centres in Northwest Ethiopia

Tropical Doctor ◽

10.1258/td.2011.110347 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 42 (2) ◽

pp. 99-100 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Fantahun Ayenew ◽

Takele Tadesse ◽

Telake Azale

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Hiv Infection ◽

Northwest Ethiopia ◽

Voluntary Counselling ◽

Khat Use ◽

Voluntary Counselling And Testing

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Rapid Tests versus ELISA for Screening of HIV Infection: Our Experience from a Voluntary Counselling and Testing Facility of a Tertiary Care Centre in North India

ISRN AIDS ◽

10.1155/2014/296840 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-5 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Bhanu Mehra ◽

Sonali Bhattar ◽

Preena Bhalla ◽

Deepti Rawat

Keyword(s):

Hiv Infection ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

North India ◽

Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽

Predictive Values ◽

Voluntary Counselling ◽

Serial Testing ◽

Testing Facility ◽

Hiv Prevention Strategies ◽

Voluntary Counselling And Testing

Early and accurate diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is essential for timely identification of patients needing antiretroviral therapy and for instituting HIV prevention strategies. The primary methodology for HIV testing has shifted from enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in recent years, especially in resource limited settings. However, the diagnostic performance of RDTs is a matter of concern. In the present study the performance of an RDT being used as the initial test in serial testing based algorithm for HIV diagnosis was compared with ELISA. Seven hundred and eighty-seven sera, tested at the voluntary counselling and testing facility employing a serial testing algorithm (based on SD Bioline HIV-1/2 3.0 as the first test), were subsequently tested with Microlisa-HIV for anti-HIV antibodies. The first test missed 9 HIV reactive samples and also registered 5 false positives. The sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive values of the first test were 77.5%, 99.3%, and 98.8% and 86.1%, respectively, taking ELISA as the standard test. Our study highlights that RDTs fare poorly compared to ELISA as screening assays and that reactive results by RDTs need to be confirmed by western blot for a positive serodiagnosis of HIV infection.

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