Door-to-door HIV testing facing problems

Stock outs of test kits and inadequate financial resources are said to have negatively impacted on the door-to-door HIV testing and counselling (HTC) campaign.

The problems have forced Development Aid from People to People (Dapp)—implementers of the programme—to downscale services in some areas, Weekend Nation has learnt.

The door-to-door HTC campaign started mid-March 2015 aimed at reaching every family with the service, including people who are far from health facilities that provide HTC services.

Former Minister of Health Jean Kalilani once told the media that the campaign was in line with the goal of ending HIV infection by 2030.

But hardly six months into the campaign, Dapp has revealed that it is facing serious challenges in attracting material and financial assistance for purchasing test kits and recruitment of staff.

“Stock outs of test kits and inadequacy of financial resources are our major challenges because this campaign generated a lot of demand in areas where it was piloted,” Dapp partnership officer, Florence Longwe, said in an interview this week.

Longwe hailed the door-to-door HTC initiative as the most effective approach to use in reaching more men—who are said to shun HTC in health centres—with the service.

She said the campaign also helped in fighting stigma and discrimination at the domestic level.

“We also saw an increase in the retention rate among people who are already on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Hence, this programme is very crucial in the fight against the pandemic,” she narrated.

Dapp first conducted the door-to-door HTC in Thyolo and Blantyre in 2006 when 400 000 people were reached.