Attracting Youth to Voluntary Counseling and Testing Services in Uganda

This summary presents findings from exit interviews conducted with youth 14 to 21 years old leaving services at AIDS Information Centre (AIC) and Naguru Teenage Information and Health Center (NTIHC). The exit interview data from AIC are from interviews with youth conducted prior to the implementation of the youth corner (February to May 2001) and after the intervention was well established (May to August 2003). The exit interview data presented from NTIHC were collected after VCT services were well under way at the youth drop-in center (May to August 2003). The summary also draws on in-depth interviews with exit interview participants and on focus groups conducted with tested and untested youth.

HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) is a valuable way to identify people who need HIV care and has been shown to lead to the adoption of safer sexual behaviours among some groups of adults. Little is known, however, about the use of VCT by youth, a group that comprises more than half of those newly infected with HIV. An exploratory study conducted in Nairobi, Kenya, and Kampala and Masaka in Uganda revealed that youth want information, confidentiality, low-cost HIV testing, and friendly, professional counseling. Two facilities in Kampala, Uganda, the AIC and NTIHC responded to these needs by implementing new youth-oriented strategies to increase VCT utilisation and satisfaction with services among young people.

Youth were highly satisfied with the new youth-oriented services. Exit interview data from AIC indicate that overall satisfaction with VCT services was generally high before the intervention (79 percent), yet increased after provider training and implementation of the youth corner (95 percent). There were also increases in the proportion of youth clients at AIC who indicated that the counselor took important steps as part of the VCT process, such as praising the client for having the courage to come for services, clarifying information, correcting misconceptions, repeating important information, and responding to their concerns and worries.