RedPAV Fulfills VCT Needs

JANUARY 2004 — The formation of RedPAV, a national network of voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) sites in the Dominican Republic, shows how HIV research can fuel the rapid expansion of HIV/AIDS services.

When an HIV seroprevalence study was conducted in the Dominican Republic as part of the 2002 Demographic and Health Survey, study participants were tested anonymously, and results were recorded only by region, age and sex. Because the study did not provide participants with their results, at least one voluntary counseling and testing site was set up in each province to serve participants who wished to learn their HIV status. Interviewers conducting the study gave each participant a referral coupon for free VCT services at one of the 60 testing sites established specifically for the study.

IMPACT was brought in by Macro International, the group conducting the HIV seroprevalence study, to develop VCT services in support of the study. This effort, which evolved into RedPAV (Red Nacional de Pruebas y Asesorias Voluntarias de VIH), provided an opportunity to expand and improve VCT services for all, not just study participants. Working with the local Genesis Foundation and Ministry of Health, IMPACT evaluated potential VCT sites, equipped the sites, trained personnel and helped collect data on VCT. The improvements to services under RedPAV have helped fuel demand for VCT among the general public.

Prior to RedPAV, only a handful of health centers in the Dominican Republic provided VCT services. At most health facilities, positive test results were often delivered to clients with little or no counseling or regard for confidentiality. Since its inception in July 2002, the RedPAV project has trained more than 300 counselors, improved VCT infrastructure, and guaranteed that clients at RedPAV VCT sites receive pre-and post-test counseling. As of January 2004, more than 63,000 individuals in this Caribbean nation of 8.8 million have received VCT services at RedPAV sites.

RedPAV is currently training VCT counselors in family planning, sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis and working to increase referrals to support services for those who test positive. More than 88 percent of clients who test positive are referred for medical consultation, and growing numbers are linked to support services like home-based care, social assistance, emotional support and prevention of mother-to-child transmission programs.

The Implementing AIDS Prevention and Care (IMPACT) Project is managed by Family Health International and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.