Africa-Press – Lesotho. Quthing district has been praised for a remarkable reduction of the spread of HIV/AIDS and this is attributed to the effectiveness of the Index testing technology.
The point was raised in Quthing last week, where the National Aids Commission (NAC) hosted a two days’ workshop for District AIDS Committee (DAC) in an effort to strengthen AIDS education providers.
Population Service International (PSI) Demand Creation Technical Advisor Molemo Makhetha made a presentation on the essential method that facilitated them (PSI) in tracing the vulnerable.
According to Makhetha, index testing has been effective ever since its introduction in Quthing, he said the results have been positive, adding that when they first introduced the project they were anxious that there would be a negative response.
He, however indicated that they still came across some challenges. “We came across women who told us that when they disclose their positive status to their partners, they beat them up instead of accepting the status and plotting a way forward.
Before the introduction of index testing we were unable to trace the contact person – who may have been infected – to the positively tested person, the risk was that one person is highly possible to infect multiple sexual partners,” Makhetha stated. He explained the processes undertaken when conducting Index and partner notification services.
“Index testing is a voluntary process where counsellors or health care workers ask index clients to list all their sexual or injecting drug partners within the past 12 months, and an index client is an individual newly diagnosed with HIV or a HIV-positive individual who is enrolled in HIV treatment services.
Index Contacts are all people exposed to HIV by index client,” Makhetha explained. Makhetha extended that index testing is voluntary. He added that Index testing and partner notification services are premised on the fact that people’s knowledge of their HIV status, as well as their partner’s status, is critical to global HIV prevention, risk reduction and treatment.
“The services are important for the management of not only HIV/AIDS, but also other sexually transmitted infections and non-communicable diseases.
Index testing must be implemented ethically taking cognizance of issues like Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Screening,” Makhetha noted. He further highlighted the processes undertaken during index testing and agreements made.
“Under client referral one tell their partner about their HIV status and encourage him or her to go to the provider Referral – a counsellor or other health care provider will call or visit your partner and inform them that they need to test for HIV.
Then the client and the counsellor will work together to notify the partner. We provide 30 days to inform the partner, after which the counsellor will contact him or her partner,” he said.
Makhetha noted that since its establishment in 2001 in Lesotho, PSI has positively impacted hundreds and thousands of lives through community-based service delivery and prevented thousands of HIV infections through its highly impactful and innovative programs, spanning from “condom social marketing, sexual and reproductive health, HIV testing services – including HIV self-testing, prevention, linkage to care and treatment”.
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