HIV testing and counseling (HTC)

Despite global reductions in AIDS-related deaths among adults, the rate for children increased by 50 percent. This increase points to inadequate testing, counselling, and treatment coverage and poor retention in services for these children. Pediatric- and adolescent-friendly health services have the potential to improve retention and clinical outcomes among children living with HIV. This study was conducted to provide evidence of the effectiveness of pediatric- and adolescent-friendly clinics in Kigoma, Tanzania.

The global AIDS response is at a precarious point—partial success in saving lives and stopping new HIV infections is giving way to complacency. At the halfway point to the 2020 targets, the pace of progress is not matching the global ambition. This report is a wake-up call—action now can still put us back on course to reach the 2020 targets.

HIV testing is the important entry point for HIV care and prevention service, but uptake of HIV testing and thus coverage of antiretroviral therapy are much lower in older children and adolescents than in adults. We investigated the effect of economic incentives provided to caregivers of children aged 8–17 years on uptake of HIV testing and counselling in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Background

The aim of this study was to determine whether counselling provided subsequent to HIV testing and referral for care increases linkage to care among HIV-positive persons identified through home-based HIV counselling and testing (HBHCT) in Masaka, Uganda. The study found that counselling substantially increases linkage to care among HIV-positive adults identified through HBHCT and may enhance efforts to increase antiretroviral therapy coverage in sub-Saharan Africa.

The AIDSFree HIV Testing Services (HTS) Guidance Database has been updated with new guidelines from many PEPFAR priority countries. The database features HTS guidelines & policies on consent and confidentiality, testing algorithms & strategies, use of mandatory testing, quality assurance & quality improvement, and self-testing.

Visit the database now to find new policies from Botswana, Ethiopia, India, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.

Couples' HIV testing and counselling (CHTC) is a well-tested, feasible, and acceptable intervention and reduces HIV transmission through serostatus-based counselling that increases condom use among discordant couples (many of whom did not know that discordance was possible) and reduces concurrent partnerships among all couples. Almost two-thirds of incident HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa occur among stable couples, and an estimated greater than 50% of new adult HIV infections could be averted by CHTC. However, very few couples in Africa have been tested to date, and CHTC is often not