Home HIV testing proves its worth
DOOR-to-door HIV-Aids testing has proven a successful tool for screening and testing in rural communities in the Eastern Cape.
This is because it affords entire families the opportunity to get tested, as opposed to the less popular public testing at health stations and mobile clinics, said Hilary Thulare, the South African programme director of international Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF), speaking at an information breakfast in East London on Friday.
Another phenomenon Thulare said they observed in the Eastern Cape was that because of the popularity of male circumcision, HIV prevalence in men was at half the rate of other parts of the country.
This however, “did not exempt men from contracting the virus”.
The foundation does support work at 55 clinics in the poorest rural districts of the province, which is the most support it gives to any province in South Africa.
Thulare and other AHF staff said they were making good progress in screening in the province, thanks to their method of understanding cultural dynamics and adopting a family approach.
“People respond better to being tested in the comfort of their own homes away from possible ridicule and judgment from healthcare workers and members of the public.
“Door-to-door work also enables us to find families who are unable to access healthcare centres because they live too far,” she said.
“Areas in the Eastern Cape are the most spread out compared to the rest of the country, presenting the most prevalent need for HIVAids support.” Thulare said HIVAids figures in the Eastern Cape were “dynamic”, with some areas showing a low prevalence of 6%, while in other parts of the province, such as in the Mnquma and Mbashe municipal areas, prevalence stood at 40%.
AHF regional policy and advocacy manager Larissa Klazinga said HIV-Aids treatment had improved significantly in South Africa over the years.
But Thulare warned that South Africans had to continue using standard “first-line” ARV drugs, which is the most affordable and available treatment option in the country.
“Second- and third-line drugs are stronger and more expensive.
“… our country is poor … If every patient were to need third-line drugs, we as a country would not be able to afford to treat them.”—