FHI/Guinea Launches Development of National Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Guidelines

FEBRUARY 2005 — In a country where an estimated 2.8% of the general population (Guinea HIV Sero-prevalence Study, Stat-View/FHI/USAID, 2001) is infected with HIV, voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services are quickly becoming an important element in the prevention and care activities of several local and international organizations working in Guinea.  Despite this increased interest in VCT services, national guidelines have not yet been developed to help coordinate activities and ensure the quality of services.

FHI/Guinea, in collaboration with the Guinean Ministry of Public Health (MOH) and local USAID mission, took the first step to establish national policies, norms and procedures (PNP) for VCT services by organizing a two-day VCT stakeholders' workshop.  The goal of this workshop was to produce a working draft of the PNP document that will harmonize current VCT activities and determine the minimum standards providers must follow to establish quality VCT services throughout the country.

Stakeholders identified to participate in the development workshop included several governmental and non-government agencies including the MOH's National Program for the Care and Support of PLWHA (PNPSCP), the National AIDS Control Committee (CNLS), the German technical assistance agency (GTZ), Population Services International (PSI), UNAIDS, UNFPA, Doctors without Borders-Belgium, two local PLWHA associations, and a local women's health association.    

The workshop opened with brief introductions and an explanation on the PNP development process.  Stakeholders then discussed the needs and guidelines most appropriate for Guinea using generic guidelines developed by FHI/IMPACT for the West African sub-region.  

For the remainder of the workshop, participants worked in groups to develop the technical areas of the document that corresponded with their area of expertise—organization and management of VCT sites, counseling, laboratory screening and testing protocols, and referral systems.

Finalization and validation of the PNP document will take place over the next few months.  The development of this national VCT PNP document comes on the eve of an effort to establish eighteen public VCT centers over the next five years with funding from the World Bank's Multi-sectoral AIDS Program (MAP) and FHI/Guinea's own efforts to establish at least two model VCT centers with funding through the USAID/IMPACT project.

Photo, Top: Awa Rama Ouattara, left, FHI/IMPACT Senior VCT Technical Officer, provides technical guidance to PNP development workshop participants. FHI/IMPACT's VCT technical team met with each stakeholder in the week prior to the workshop to develop the themes that would be addressed during the workshop. (FHI)

Photo, Bottom: Participants present findings of their technical working groups at the end of the development workshop. Their recommendations will be integrated into the generic PNP document and used for its finalization in the coming months. (FHI)