The Benefits of Testing

HIV testing and counseling services play an important role in the early detection of and timely treatment for people with HIV, and allow people with risky behaviors and/or greater vulnerability to HIV infection have access to prevention, care, and treatment services. HIV testing and counseling services offer significant benefits, since they:

• Help people reduce risky behaviors (although behavioral change is influenced by many other social and cultural factors).
• Offer counseling for a positive life (nutrition,continuing counseling, diagnosis of serological status, identification of support networks) especially for people with a positive diagnosis
• Refer people to other services and interventions, such as preventing the transmission of infections associated with HIV, other STIs, mother-to-child transmission, tuberculosis, and offering family planning.
• Help people understand, accept, and deal accordingly with their serological status, whether positive or negative.
• Encourage people who test negative to plan for the future and take preventive actions such as practicing safe sex and safe injection.
Encourage couples to learn their serological status and attend preventive counseling sessions together
• Promote solidarity among people living with HIV
• Contribute to reducing stigma and discrimination
• Support the protection of human rights