The World Health Organisation (WHO) in collaboration with UNAIDS have issued new guidance on Voluntary HIV testing and counselling in all health facilities throughout the world.
The new guidance focuses on provider-initiated HIV testing and counselling as recommended by health care providers in health facilities.
The new WHO/UNIADS guideline was prepared in light of increasing evidence that provider-initiated testing and counselling could increase uptake of HIV testing, improve access to health services for people living with HIV and create new opportunities for HIV prevention.
This was contained in a document by WHO and made available to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Thursday.
It advised that all health care providers globally recommend HIV testing and counselling to people who were presented with conditions that might suggest underlying HIV.
The document noted that the new approach would increase access to the needed HIV treatment, care, support and prevention services.
The document provided advice on how to prioritize implementation in different types of health facilities since WHO and UNAIDS had recognized resource and other constraints may prevent immediate implementation of the new method.
It said increase access to HIV testing and counselling was very essential to promoting earlier diagnosis of HIV infection, which could maximise the potential benefits of life extending treatment and care as well as allowing people with HIV to receive information and tools to prevent HIV transmission.
