KAIS 2007 1 - Kenya National AIDS & STI Control Programme ...

HIV Testing chapter 44.1. Key findings• Overall, 33.9% of adults aged 15-64 years reported that they had been tested forHIV at least once in their lifetime.• Women were more likely to have ever been tested than men (40.7% vs. 24.9%,respectively).• Of respondents who had never been tested for HIV, 47.2% reported that theyhad not sought testing because of their self-perceived low risk for HIV.4.2. IntroductionHIV testing and counselling are critical measures in a comprehensive response to the HIV epidemic.HIV testing is only way to learn one’s HIV status and can provide appropriate linkages for HIVinfectedpersons to access life‐saving HIV care and treatment interventions. In addition, the post‐testcounselling session offers focused counselling for HIV prevention to help reduce behaviours whichmay lead to acquisition or transmission of HIV.The Government of Kenya has set a national goal to provide HIV testing to at least 80% of alladolescents and adults by 2010. To reach this goal, a thorough understanding of access to and use ofHIV testing is needed to scale up national HIV testing and counselling efforts.Since 2004, “opt‐out” HIV testing has been offered as part of the routine package for all pregnantwomen attending antenatal clinics (ANC). In this approach, women receive pre‐test counselling forHIV testing and can choose to “opt‐out” of testing should they not wish to get tested. This policychange, in line with the national Prevention of Mother‐to‐Child Transmission (PMTCT) guidelines, hasled to substantial increases in HIV testing among women. Further discussion of “opt‐out” HIV testingin the context of PMTCT services is provided in Chapter 8 of this report.In this chapter, we present coverage of HIV testing and counselling at the time of the survey andidentify disparities and barriers to testing. Appendix B.4 provides sample sizes and 95% confidenceintervals for estimates presented in this chapter. Throughout the chapter, the term significant indicatesa chi‐square p‐value less than 0.05; marginally significant indicates a p‐value between 0.05 and 0.10,inclusive; and not significant indicates a p‐value greater than 0.10.KAIS 2007 65