social context of disclosing hiv test results: hiv testing in tanzania

5.2 Conditions under Which People Seek an HIV Test
In this study, respondents who had just taken an HIV test and those who were
living with AIDS were asked what had motivated them to get tested for HIV.
Respondents were allowed to mention more than one factor. The table below shows their
responses. The row labelled “poor health condition” includes anyone who talked about
symptoms of illness they had been suffering from for some time. The phrase “to know
HIV status” refers to individuals who said they had lost a spouse and were concerned that
they were HIV positive.
Table 5.1 PLWHA and respondents who were tested recently by sex and reasons for HIV testing
Reason for
HIV testing
People living with HIV/AIDS People tested for HIV recently
Female Male Total Female Male Total
% No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No.
Poor health condition 56 15 80 24 68 39 57 20 64 14 60 34
To know HIV status
To answer a call for
41 11 10 3 25 14 34 12 23 5 30 17
HIV testing 4 1 10 3 7 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
Peer influence 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 9 2 5 3
Not mentioned 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2 5 1 5 3
Total 100 27 100 30 100 57 100 35 100 22 100 57
The table above shows that poor health condition was the main reason for both
categories of respondents in deciding to be tested for HIV: 68 percent of those who had
been living with HIV infection for some time and 60 percent of those recently tested. The
data also show that 25 percent of PLWHA and 30 percent of respondents who were tested
recently sought an HIV test not because they were in poor health, but because they just
wanted to know their HIV serostatus. As shown later in this chapter, such people were
influenced to be tested by many other reasons.
The data presented in Table 5.1 show that the respondents can be divided into two
distinct groups. The first group is people who sought an HIV test because they were in
poor health, and the second group is people who decided to take an HIV test for other
reasons. Because the circumstances under which the two groups were compelled to be
tested for HIV are different, the two groups are discussed separately.
5.2.1 Poor Health as a Reason for HIV Testing
After HIV enters the body, the immune function is reduced and the body is less
able to fight infections and cancers. The infected people may then develop symptoms
such as swollen lymph nodes, fever, fatigue, and weight loss. These early symptoms may
vary in severity, as this gentleman from Iringa indicated:
I began to feel ill in 2000. Each time I was ill I felt pneumonia, headache
or fever. At the hospital they kept telling me that I had chronic malaria.
But in 2004 they said I was suffering from TB. In 2006 they examined me
and told me I was HIV positive.
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