In October 2003, staff from AIC and NTIHC joined the researchers from Makerere University in hosting a meeting in Kampala that drew over a hundred participants to discuss the study’s findings. Participants concurred that increased utilization of VCT was a valuable way to prevent HIV infection and to identify youth who need care, and attendees from other health programs agreed to set up a referral network for counselors to use for referring HIV-positive youth.

Program Implications

Many youth in Uganda would like to undergo VCT, and offering special youth services and publicizing their existence increased VCT utilization. Based on the findings, special training of providers improved services, lowered fees and adding a test location enabled more youth to test, and media outreach through radio and magazines informed many young people about VCT.

Unfortunately, the services were not able to serve all the young people who wanted to be tested and, without increased capacity, the clinics will have difficulty handling all the youth attracted to their new, youth-friendly services. Therefore, it is important that VCT centers that set out to attract youth anticipate increasing demand and plan accordingly.