The Impact of Voluntary Counselling and Testing: A global review of the benefits and challenges (UNAIDS, 2000, 96 p.): 3. Care: Improving access to medical, emotional and social support: (introduction...)

The Impact of Voluntary Counselling and Testing: A global review of the benefits and challenges (UNAIDS, 2000, 96 p.)

3. Care: Improving access to medical, emotional and social support

		*(introduction...)*
		3.1 Access to medical care
		3.2 Access to ongoing emotional/psychological care
		3.3 Psychological coping and adjustment (for the individual as well as for the family and community)
		3.4 Sharing of HIV test result with family and friends
		3.5 Post-test clubs/support groups
		3.6 Access to social support
		3.7 Legal and future planning
		3.8 Access to interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, specialist antenatal care and family planning services
		3.9 Access to HIV transmission prevention services

(introduction...)

VCT enables people with HIV to seek emotional, social and medical care, and in areas of limited resources allows services to be channelled appropriately. It also enables people who test seronegative to access suitable support and services.

Box 12: Care needs following VCT

There are many supportive benefits of knowing one’s HIV status, if seropositive. Studies have shown that there are several main concerns following testing:

The main concerns for those who test seropositive are:

· Social support (including material and financial support)

· Access to and provision of condoms

· Medical care (earlier access to appropriate medical care and preventive therapies)

· Emotional support and adjustment/coping (ongoing emotional support from coun-selling services, spiritual services, traditional medical services, partners, families and community)

· Sharing HIV status (with partner, family or close friend)

· Peer support (from peer-support groups, post-test clubs and advocacy)

· Future planning (making plans for their future and that of their dependants, including making a will)

· Access to interventions to prevent MTCT (including infant-feeding counselling, ARV interventions and special antenatal care)

· Family-planning services (including termination of pregnancy services where legal and safely available)

The main concerns for those who test seronegative are:

· Safer sex and staying negative
· Future fertility
· Sharing result with partner
· Continuing risk of exposure (occupational, positive or untested sexual partner)
· Caring for relatives
· “Worried well” (This refers to people who are at very low risk of HIV infection but worry overly about being infected. This phenomenon is more common in low-prevalent countries where there has been a prominent HIV education campaign.)