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Knowing its own HIV status through voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) can motivate both HIV-positive and negative people to engage in responsible sexual behaviour, which allows the HIV-negative person to remain so and the HIV-positive person to protect themselves and others.

Voluntary counselling and testing is a procedure that allows an individual to make an informed choice about whether to receive an HIV test. In recent years, voluntary HIV testing, combined with pre- and post-test counselling, has taken a significant place in national and international prevention and care programs.

The result of screening test can be negative, positive or undetermined and each result has its own counselling.
Counselling is a method of interpersonal communication aimed at getting subject to take solutions to his or her problem on his or her own.

In HIV testing, there are two types of counselling: pre-test and post-test counselling.
The purpose of counselling is to prevent HIV infection by screening, encouraging behaviour change and providing psychological support to PLWHA.
It leads the client to manage his new situation with clear and precise information, makes him able to evaluate the risk factors for a better prevention by himself and his entourage.

What is the contribution of that service to SYM?

Voluntary counselling and testing contributes to the well-being of our clients and patients. We noted that most clients who come to SYM for the first time are under-informed about basic concepts of HIV, namely how it is transmitted, prevented and treated.

Among HIV-positive young people who were born with HIV or caught it in adolescence, we have noticed a lack of emotional maturity that they face, which leads them to engage in risky sexual relations.
To cope with this eventuality, our service organizes therapeutic weekends for these young people, where they can learn about positive living with HIV by accepting their serology, adherence to treatment and responsible sexuality. At the end of these group sessions, we do individual counselling. It is then after counselling sessions that they find meaning in life.

We can also say that VCT is essential for our clients because when it is a negative result the client no longer lives in doubt and thinks about protecting himself during next sexual relation, and when the client is HIV positive, he benefits from medical and psychosocial care in order to live positively and for a long time with his illness.

In addition to the screening that takes place at SYM headquarters, we place great emphasis on indexed screening. The person tested HIV+ identifies his or her sexual partners, biological children under 18 years old and spouse if married. Then the counsellor makes a field visit for an interview to obtain screening from them with their consent; positive cases are presented to the doctor for treatment.