Barriers to voluntary counselling and testing (VCT)

Abstract

It has been estimated that one in five people who are infected with HIV in South Africa know their status. There is widespread concern that the uptake of VCT throughout the country is too low and ways of encouraging people to come forward voluntarily are continually explored. The low VCT uptake by individuals brings the question: Why do people who know that they are at risk of HIV infection not voluntarily present themselves for counselling, HIV-testing and referral? The purpose of this study was to investigate the barriers to voluntary counselling and testing for HIV and AIDS. The overall aim of the study was to examine the relationship between VCT knowledge, perceived social stigma, and VCT uptake. This was a quantitative study. A sample of 30 male and 258 female respondents participated in the study. A questionnaire was use to collect data from respondents. The questionnaire consisted of four sections, namely background information, VCT knowledge scale, attitudes towards VCT and HIV and AIDS scale, and perceived social stigma scale. It was found that most respondents who had never used VCT services before had low levels of VCT knowledge and negative attitudes towards VCT, HIV, and AIDS. The levels of perceived social stigma were low among the respondents who had never used VCT services before. This showed that individuals who did not know their HIV status believed that their community held less stigmatising beliefs about people living with HIV and AIDS. The results from this study show that there is a need for a trusting relationship to be developed between the clients and health care workers. This could be done through training health care workers about proper counselling and developing communication skills with the clients. There is also a need for VCT communication campaigns that will give information about what the VCT process entails so that individuals who have not used VCT before would have a clearer understanding of the VCT process. Information about benefits of HIV testing need to be highlighted, in order to persuade those who have not been tested to seriously consider presenting themselves for VCT. Copyright