A campaign for fight against HIV/AIDS

Make an HIV-test!

 

The campaign called “Some things become part o the everyday life, make an HIV-test!”, designed to raise the awareness of the general population for HIV testing, has been going on for four months now in Macedonia. It is organized by the NGO H.E.R.A., in cooperation with the organizations EGAL, HOPS and DOVERBA and the Republic Institute for Health Protection and the Global Fund for Fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The organizer called the interested parties to dial the free number 0800 33 444 in order to get all the necessary information for testing.

The campaign’s goal is to promote free VCCT (voluntary, confidential counseling and testing) in all counseling centers in Macedonia.

“The clients must know that no one has the right to force them to make an HIV test, it is their personal decision and they do it with free will. All the client’s information and data during, before and after the test-counseling are protected. The goal of the counseling is to get true information on HIV/AIDS, the way of transmitting the virus, protection, whether it is the right time for the client to make the HIV-test or should they wait a certain time. Through the counseling process, the client is getting ready to understand the results of the test (positive or negative)”, the organizers say. They also promoted their field vehicle (a white van), equipped as a laboratory in motion. In the field they use so-called quick tests that provide results in 10-15 minutes and the procedure also includes a pre-test and post-test counseling. The client gets free educational materials on HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health and sexually transmitted diseases as well as condoms. The van, which is active throughout Skopje, is used by the four NGOs that cover different target groups: young population (students), general population, prisoners and people in custody, injecting drug users, commercial sexual workers, LGBT population (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) and WSW (women who have sex with other women but do not consider themselves to be lesbian), drug users and those who undergo treatment with their families.

 

A.T.