![]() South Africa is home to the largest HIV epidemic in the world, with 5.7 million infected individuals, prevalence among adults aged 15–49 years of nearly 20% 16, and an estimated incidence in young women of 5.5 per 100 woman-years 17. As VCT becomes an integrated part of a comprehensive HIV prevention and care strategy in resource-limited settings, further regional data assessing individual-level characteristics associated with HIV testing from the general population are warranted 4, 13, 14.Įxamining access to HIV testing in South Africa is timely as the government recently launched a national effort to test 15 million individuals for HIV and to start an estimated 0.5 million new HIV-infected individuals on antiretroviral therapy (ART) by 2011 15. Most studies to date that have provided a clearer understanding of risk behaviors and socio-demographic characteristics associated with HIV testing have been conducted in the developed world among high-risk groups 9, 11, 12. However, individuals who report repeated VCT uptake may be more likely to engage in high-risk sexual behaviors 8 and may also have higher rates of HIV acquisition 9, 10, and hence may represent a potential group for targeted prevention interventions 11. Studies have demonstrated the efficacy of VCT in decreasing risky sexual behaviors in generally health populations 5– 7. HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) can be an important strategy for primary prevention and an entry point to care, treatment, and support for those found to be HIV-infected 3, 4. ![]() ![]() There have been increasing calls to expand access to HIV testing and then promptly link those found to be HIV-infected to care and treatment in settings with high HIV prevalence 1, 2.
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