Acceptance of and barriers to voluntary HIV counselling and testing among adults in Guizhou province, China

Abstract

Education about HIV/AIDS and VCT needs to be improved, and levels of stigma and discrimination reduced, in order to enhance the uptake of VCT services, an essential step for the initiation of treatment.

Factors affecting HIV counselling and testing among adults in Muheza District, Tanzania

“…Most importantly, about two thirds of the respondents reported that they didn't consider themselves at risk and most of them were married. These findings concur with those reported from the study in China (Ma et al 2007) elsewhere in Tanzania (Maman et al, 2001). The later observed that fear of partners' reaction, decision-making and communication patterns between partners, and partners' attitudes towards HIV-1 testing were among the most important challenges to undertake HCT.…”

“…It further showed that about two thirds of the adult population ever had HIV test done by the time this study was conducted. In a recent study in China, a much lower proportion (23%) of participants was of the opinion that there was no benefit of being tested (Ma et al 2007). The higher proportion of individuals who had correct understanding of HCT in our study is likely to have been contributed by a higher level of education among them.…”

“…In another study in Zambia, it was found that readiness for testing was higher in younger age group (20-24 years) than in older age group (40-49 years) (Fylkesnes & Siziya, 2004). A study in Guizhou Province in China revealed that the main barriers were attributed by self perception of low risk and fear of stigma and discrimination that would results from taking the test (Ma et al, 2007). In Tanzania, among predictors of HIV completion of counselling and testing included self perceived risk of HIV, prior knowledge of HCT and sex with a high risk partner (Wringe et al, 2008).…”

Scaling up syphilis testing in China: implementation beyond the clinic

“…Unsafe commercial sex and unsafe homosexual sex are major drivers of the resurgent syphilis epidemic, 10 but there is ample data suggesting that neither sex workers nor homosexual men attend clinics in great numbers. 11,12 When these high-risk individuals do attend public clinics in China, there is often no record of their detailed sexual history, which is not in line with official guidelines. 13 There is no tradition of secondary case finding or partner notification in China (or in many low-income nations), so all related infections remain untreated.…”

HIV Testing in Non-Injection Drug Users: Prevalence and Associated Factors

“…Low perception of risk, lack of knowledge, and the stigma associated with HIV represent significant barriers to testing (21)(22)(23), contributing to these rates.…”