Testing Blitz for World TB Day!

26 March 2010

Photograph courtesy of Phebe Gribble

Testing large numbers of people for HIV and screening them for TB is hard work. Mobile voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) teams have to counsel, screen and test people despite all kinds of weather conditions. On some days, the wind threatens to topple the gazebos the teams use to provide privacy during consultations, and heat waves or cold can be exhausting because so much work happens outside. But even a taxi strike didn’t deter TB/HIV Care staff on the mission to test for HIV and screen for TB during the week of World TB Day last month!

VCT teams from TB/HIV Care spread out throughout the Metro to commemorate World TB Day on the 24th of March by spending the week testing for HIV and screening for TB. But the taxi strike on the 23rd of March threw a spanner in the works as the team scheduled to do VCT on that day had been allocated to the now-deserted Wynberg taxi rank to do their outreach work.

Undeterred by the setback, the team, headed up by Programme Manager, Belinda Fortuin, and Professional Nurse Counsellor, (PNC), Lulama Jacobs, showed resourcefulness and tenacity by moving to the informal settlement of Overcome Heights where they conducted an impromptu but effective, door-to-door awareness and VCT campaign. This resulted in 60 people testing their HIV status and so many more people were interested in testing that the team had to set another date to return.

Belinda Fortuin was particularly struck by the response of the youth to the testing blitz. “We were there when the schools were closing and lots of youngsters from high school were interested in what we were doing and were very serious about being tested. They were prepared to wait in long queues and asked lots of questions.” In response to this interest, the team held an informal group discussion to address the issues raised.

On the day of World TB Day the VCT blitz continued as a crack team of TB/HIV Care Association District Co-ordinators manned the VCT booth at the Golden Acre. The team included Denise Farmer, Milly Abels, Debbie Esau, Joaline Haupt and Stella Agulhas and the huge number of people passing through the shopping mall combined with the team’s efficiency, saw 165 people being tested for HIV in one day!

The week’s success was rounded off by another bumper testing session in Khayelitsha Shopping Centre where teams lead by Programme Manager, Mavis Nonkunzi, and Professional Nurse Counsellor (PNC), Priscilla Tshandu, joined forces to test 100 people. But their success was not limited to World TB Day and they were bombarded with requests to come back again to perform VCT, and to expand to even more locations in Khayelitsha.

As well as providing testing, TB/HIV Care extends the concept of care to include counselling. If clients test negative, they are counselled on remaining negative and healthy, and if the client tests negative, they are referred to appropriate clinical care and are traced to ensure that they access this care. The emotional strain of helping people understand and cope with their status can be very tiring for the VCT teams, so TB/HIV Care Association congratulates the teams on the wonderful achievement of testing 365 people during the week of World TB Day. This success has been brought about by their hard work and dedication.

Source:
TB/HIV Care Association, tel: 021 425 0050, www.tbhivcare.org, info@tbhivcare.org