HIV testing, counseling clinics to undergo proficiency training

MANILA, Philippines - For the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), all HIV/AIDS testing and counseling centers in the country will now have to undergo proficiency training to prevent discrimination of patients.

UNAIDS country director Teresita Marie Bagasao said it should become a policy of the Department of Health (DOH) that all these centers undergo an accreditation process to make sure that they can handle HIV/AIDS patients properly.

“The protocol requires that there must be pre- and post-counseling, and this should be done by trained personnel,” she told The STAR.

Bagasao said a person doing the voluntary testing should be able to counsel and refer patients to DOH treatment hubs.

She noted that having people who do not understand the disease and what the patients are going through would only drive them away, adding that misconception about HIV/AIDS is still high. “I hope they understand the feeling of the person who wants to be tested.”

The DOH wants to eliminate the stigma and discrimination against HIV patients and one of the strategies is to normalize testing, just like other illnesses like tuberculosis.

However, Bagasao said it is important to have a “supportive environment.”

“If the result is positive, you should be able to help them get treatment. If it is negative but the patient is engaged in risky practices, you should be able to reinforce safe practices because that is critical,” she said.

Based on DOH records, there were 536 new HIV cases, including 61 AIDS cases, documented in January, which is equivalent to 18 new cases a day.

That brought to 23,063 the number of HIV/AIDS cases since 1984, including 2,110 AIDS and 1,132 deaths.