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: 3.9 Access to HIV transmission prevention services

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

3.9 Access to HIV transmission prevention services

Many people in high-prevalence countries or from among groups who are at higher risk from HIV infection assume that they are already infected. This may prevent them protecting themselves from HIV infection. In Zambia, although the HIV prevalence rate among young men is low (<5% in men under 19 years of age), many said that there was no point in adopting safer sex as it was likely that they were already infected (Baggaley, 1998¹⁶⁵). Knowledge of HIV status can therefore give people the ability to protect themselves from HIV infection and encourage access to HIV preventive services. A study from San Francisco demonstrated that people who tested seronegative but were at high risk of HIV infection were more likely to access HIV prevention services (Marx et al., 1998¹⁶⁶).