2010 Test & Treat Campaign

For the third year in a row AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) proved the efficiency of its innovative rapid HIV testing model over the conventional Volunteer Counseling and Testing (VCT) process by testing people around the world during an extended commemoration of World AIDS Day from the month of November to December 2010.

The ‘TEST AND TREAT 2010 World AIDS Day Campaign’ is a continuance of the ‘TESTING MILLIONS’ and ‘ONE MILLION TESTS’ campaign from previous years initially introduced at the 2008 International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. The 2009 results identified 110,168 HIV positive individuals - an overall sero-positivity rate of 2.58% - as compared to 61,294 individuals found to be HIV positive in 2008, an overall sero-positivity rate of 3.9%.

The guiding principal of the campaign is to mobilize non-government organizations (NGOs), governments, faith-based agencies and individuals to provide free HIV testing at large-scale events around the world - that include streamlined group pre-test counseling, a variety of new rapid testing products and consistent referrals to care or antiretroviral treatment - as a way to help people learn their HIV status and stem the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.

In both years, the testing itself commenced in conjunction with Cambodia’s Water Festival national holiday during the first week of November, and concluded at the end of the second week of December, following the commemoration of World AIDS Day on December 1st.

 

Cambodia Water Festival 2010

As part of an ambitious global effort to test several million people for HIV in observance of the Testing Millions World AIDS Day 2009 campaign, AHF/Cambodia CARES will launch its inaugural testing effort during the annual Water Festival, which marks the end of the rainy season and is the largest festival in the Cambodian calendar. The Water Festival commences Sunday, November 1st. AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest AIDS group in the US which currently provides AIDS medical care and services to more than 120,000 individuals in 22 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia Pacific Region and Eastern Europe, is spearheading the worldwide initiative to test millions. Last year, AHF led the successful ‘One Million Tests/World AIDS Day 2008’ campaign during which AHF/Cambodia CARES and its Cambodian partners surpassed their country goal of performing 30,000 tests by testing 35,034 individuals, identifying 1,112 HIV positive individuals in the process. The 2008 campaign far exceeded its goal of performing one million tests by testing 1,603,272 people and identifying 61,399 HIV positive people.

AHF/Cambodia CARES, which partners with NCHADS in operating 12 free AIDS treatment clinics throughout the country, has also taken a leadership role to coordinate and partner with other stakeholders to reach as many people as possible for the HIV testing and the Love Condom campaign. As its part of the in-country component of the global testing campaign, AHF/Cambodia CARES has committed to testing 12,000 people for HIV throughout the month of November in Cambodia, one of the countries in the Asia Pacific region that has been hardest-hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

“With the beginning of the Water Festival, AHF/Cambodia CARES will get an early start and launch our country’s participation in the ‘Testing Millions’ World AIDS Day 2009 campaign. We will be testing in Phnom Penh and other provinces and link those found to be positive to a clinic for follow up care and access to lifesaving antiretroviral treatment as well as the positive prevention to stop the spreading of the virus, and those who found as negative will learn about HIV prevention to keep them stay negative” said Chhim Sarath, M.D., AHF Country Director for Cambodia.

Cambodia is one of the poorest nations in Asia and also has one of the most rapidly growing HIV/AIDS epidemics in the region. The HIV epidemic has spread beyond high-risk groups such as sex workers, male police officers, factory workers, mobile populations, injection drug users and men who have sex with men, to the general population.

The number of Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) centers in Cambodia has increased dramatically over the last 5 years (only 12 sites in 2000 to 216 sites by the end of first quarter 2009). Of the current 216 VCT centers, 194 are supported directly by the government, while 22 are supported by non-governmental organizations.

 

South Africa

AHF’s “Test and Treat” March in Umlazi, South Africa commemorating World AIDS Day kicked off this past Sunday with great success.

More than 4,000 people were estimated to have participated in the lively march that ended in Mega City, the site of AHF’s bold billboard featuring the image of a young woman delivering the message “Getting tested for HIV saved my life.”

Many took advantage of the free HIV testing that was offered by AHF and other partners during the event. Of the 416 individuals tested for HIV by AHF, 113 tested positive were immediately were immediately referred to lifesaving treatment.
The AHF Ithembalabantu Clinic youth group and Sihle performed the official “Ithembalabantu Test and Treat Rap” twice to thunderous applause.

In South Africa, AHF operates the Ithembalabantu “People’s Hope” Clinic, which currently provides free HIV/AIDS care and/or services to more than 15,000 patients in need.

Uganda

On November 30, in Masaka, Uganda, AHF Uganda Cares held a “Test & Trest” World AIDS Day testing event at Liberation Square. Hundreds of people were tested, click on the image to the right for more pictures on our AIDS Healthcare Foundation Picasa web album.

Swaziland

In Swaziland—where the adult HIV prevalence rate is 26%--AHF’s World AIDS Day “Test and Treat” March was the climax of a month-long campaign. The primary partner in the campaign has been Swazi military, to which AHF/Swaziland has been providing testing and condoms to for more than one year.

The USDF (Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force) has declared a WAR-For-LIFE – a war on AIDS. The headline on their materials in all caps is: HIV TESTING IS THE GATEWAY TO ACCESSINGLIFESAVING ARV TREATMENT. “The HIV/AIDS pandemic is a crisis that transcends our national geographic boundaries and all efforts to stop further spread and mitigate on our militaries requires both bilateral and multilateral co-operation.”

On the day of the World AIDS Day “Test and Treat” event, Lieutenant Tsembeni Magongo proudly announced that the military has reduced the AIDS mortality in the among their ranks by 40%. Four members of the Swazi military courageously went up to the mike and talked about their HIV-positive status. 
  
Results of the “Test and Treat” day IN SWAZILAND: 172 individuals were tested and the 38 who tested positive were immediately referred to lifesaving treatment. A total of 1,000 people were tested during the month-long World AIDS Day campaign events.

 

Zambia

Huge crowds gathered to commemorate World AIDS Day in Zambia during AHF’s “Test and Treat” event over the weekend. Nearly 1,000 individuals were tested for HIV during this day-long event despite the rain. Those who tested positive were immediately referred to lifesaving treatment. Musicians and other performers entertained the crowd, while also communicating messages about the importance of HIV testing, prevention and treatment.

 

Ukraine

Fifteen educational sessions have been conducted by AHF partners in conjunction with the local AIDS center at the institutions of higher learning in Odessa, Ukraine during the commemoration of World AIDS Day on Dec 1. At the conclusion of each session, staff distributed informational booklets, condoms and offered students to take an HIV test. Over 300 participants were tested with 2 preliminary HIV-positive results. The test results were delivered to each person via SMS, to ensure confidentiality. Individuals with the positive results were referred to a clinic for additional testing and follow-up counseling. At the conclusion of the initiative, university administration expressed the need for additional testing events in the future.