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HIV infection and AIDS disease have a strong cultural and economic impact on the whole society. Also, it has a great effect in the emotional state of the tested individuals and people around them. The work with HIV/AIDS started since 2007 with the initiative of the Global Funding establishing Volunteer Confidential Counseling and Testing Centers being installed within Regional Health Directorates in 12 districts of Albania. The centers were founded due to the considerable need to ensure social support to reduce social isolation for these individuals, to raise awareness of the target groups about the importance of being informed, counseling and testing. Of course, the access to this kind of service is associated with stigmatization, especially in small districts, therefore making the anonymity a big issue. Frequently, stigmatization has influenced the way that help is offered in VCCT Center. Social issues of homophobia, racism and sexism usually have been amplified more when it comes to this category. Hence, in this study I aim to give a clear view of the situation in Lezha District regarding the individual who is tested for HIV/AIDS in certain centers, giving a statistical analysis of the distribution according to the gender (F/M), education (no education, elementary, secondary, high, university), employment (employed or not), civic status (married, single), reason for testing (volunteer, recommended, diagnosed with IST, pregnant, HIV-positive partner), transmission (sexually transmitted, intravenous or blood transfusion), psychological symptoms (stress, anxiety, forgetting, fatigue, emotional sensitivity) associating the client when approaching the service. What remains an issue is the factual increase in the number of tests, not only in Lezha district, but also at national level because the purpose of VCCT Center is to increase the response to HIV/AIDS at the national level, to maintain a low prevalence in Albania and to prevent the risk of its transmission in the future. Of course, to increase the number of tests a change in the policy is needed in the way the services are given, to which target groups these services are given, the level of inter-institutional cooperation, which so far is considered low and also confidentiality issues of reporting in case of HIV/positive results. Reporting issues are still a serious problem in the field, different from what is available in literature, since in the field it is offered a clearer view of what is really happening. Therefore, in this study, I aim to give a tangible reality of the way these services are offered and the real issues encountered in the direct work with these target groups.
Albania today is still a low HIV prevalence country, but major concerns exist that since the 1990s there has been an uncontrollable increase in the risk-behaviours coupled with spontaneous massive internal and external migration, and a lack of information about the causes and prevention of HIV/AIDS. By the end of 2004, there were 149 HIV cases in Albania, of which 48 cases of AIDS (with 25 deaths). Sexual transmission, both homosexual and heterosexual, accounts for over 90% of HIV cases in Albania and the age-group most affected is 30-40 years old. The majority of reported HIV cases were acquired outside Albania. According to projections of the National HIV/AIDS Program, in 2010, the number of HIV cases might reach 10,000-15,000 if the necessary prevention measures would not be taken. Thus, after 2000, there was an emerging need for a national strategy of control and prevention of HIV/AIDS in Albania. This was due to the increasing number of new cases every year as a consequence of ...
Revista De Pesquisa Cuidado E Fundamental Online
The offer of the anti-HIV test to the users of the health basic net units: different aproaches of professionals2015 •
The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
Provider-initiated vs. client-initiated HIV testing in Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia, 2000-20082013 •
Background: This paper describes the changes in Human Immundodeficiency virus (HIV) testing rates in Autonomous Province (AP) Vojvodina, Serbia since 2000 and compares provider-initiated with client-initiated HIV testing. Methodology: Between 2000 and 2008, 66,327 HIV screening tests were reported from AP Vojvodina. During this time HIV testing rates increased from 1.2 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2000, to 7.7 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2008. Results: The results showed an increase in testing as a consequence of increased mandatory testing of surgical patients as well as an upsurge in the use of Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT). Pregnant women that were tested represented less than 5% of the overall sample population. Conclusion: Public health efforts in AP Vojvodina to increase HIV testing rates lead to a continuous increase in testing rates, but with different limitations. HIV testing in low prevalence middle income countries could be highly affected by procurement difficulties,...
Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Medical Sciences
Sağlık Çalışanlarının HIV/AIDS ile İlgili Konularda Eğitildikten Sonra Artan Bilgi ve Tutumları: Türkiye’de Kentsel Alanda Yapılmış Bir Çalışma2012 •
2021 •
Introduction/Aim: Voluntary and confidential counseling and testing (VCCT) means getting information about HIV, ways of transmission, recognizing, reducing or avoiding risks for HIV infection, about safe sexual relations, the place where people can be tested, and what they should do depending on the test results in order to protect themselves and other people. The aim of this study was to examine differences in demographic characteristics, risky behavior and HIV status between men and women who were voluntarily and confidentially counseled and tested at the Counseling Center for HIV/AIDS of the Institute of Public Health in Belgrade. Methods: This research was conducted as a cross-sectional study and it included 3,480 persons (43.2% of women and 56.8% of men), who were counseled and tested at the Counseling Center for HIV/AIDS of the Institute of Public Health in Belgrade from 2017 to 2019. ch2 or Fisher's test was used for the statistical analysis of data. Results: The majority...
2013 •
Background: This paper describes the changes in Human Immundodeficiency virus (HIV) testing rates in Autonomous Province (AP) Vojvodina, Serbia since 2000 and compares provider-initiated with client-initiated HIV testing. Methodology: Between 2000 and 2008, 66,327 HIV screening tests were reported from AP Vojvodina. During this time HIV testing rates increased from 1.2 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2000, to 7.7 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2008. Results: The results showed an increase in testing as a consequence of increased mandatory testing of surgical patients as well as an upsurge in the use of Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT). Pregnant women that were tested represented less than 5 % of the overall sample population. Conclusion: Public health efforts in AP Vojvodina to increase HIV testing rates lead to a continuous increase in testing rates, but with different limitations. HIV testing in low prevalence middle income countries could be highly affected by procurement difficulties,...
The International Annals of Medicine
Sexual Behaviors of People Living with HIV (PLWH) in Albania2018 •
Background: Sexual way of acquiring the HIV virus continues to predominate in 95% of reported cases in Albania. Nowadays, sexual risk behaviors of people living with HIV still remain big public health concern for spread of HIV virus from infected persons to another uninfected one; no date is available regarding risk behaviors of people living with HIV in Albania. Objectives: This study was undertaken to improve the understating about sexual behaviors of people living with HIV in Albania over the past 12 months and during the last episode of sexual intercourse. Material and Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in outpatient clinic of people living with HIV in Albania. Two hundred sixty four patients were interviewed about their sexual identity, sexual orientation, sexual attraction, sexual practices, and their sexual partners using AMIS questionnaire (Emory University Instrument) to measure their sexual risk behaviors. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS ...
Hacettepe Sosyoloji E-Dergi
SOCIAL CONTEXT OF HIV STATUS DISCLOSURE BY PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV IN TUREY2014 •
Abstract Based on qualitative interviews with people living with HIV (PLHIV), this paper examines the motives and strategies for disclosure and non-disclosure of HIV status by PLHIV in Turkey. As an area at the intersection of human rights and public health, disclosure is discussed not only in relation with social-psychological and health-related needs but also around cultural and legal frameworks behind stigmatisation. The discrepancy between the strong motivations for disclosure expressed by the participants and the felt requirement for concealment due to fear of discrimination is an important source of discomfort for PLHIV. This situation and possible solutions are discussed through a critical approach to existing conceptualizations about disclosure. The need for a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS policy, comprising systematic counselling, testing and partner notification services is emphasized. Özet Bu çalışma, HIV ile yaşayan bireylerle gerçekleştirilmiş niteliksel araştırmanın sonuçlarına dayanarak, HIV tanısını başkalarıyla paylaşıp paylaşmamayla ilgili motivasyonları ve stratejileri incelemektedir. İnsan hakları ve halk sağlığı yaklaşımlarının kesişim noktasında yer alan, HIV tanısının açıklanması konusu, sosyal-psikolojik ve sağlıkla ilgili ihtiyaçlar kadar, damgalanmayı biçimlendiren toplumsal ve yasal çerçeve ile ilgisi bakımından da ele alınmıştır. Katılımcıların HIV statülerini açıklamaya yönelik güçlü motivasyonları ile ayrımcılık endişesinden kaynaklanan gizlenme gerekliliği arasındaki çelişki, HIV ile yaşayanlar için önemli sorun oluşturmaktadır. Bu durum ve çözüm yolları, ilgili literatürdeki kavramsallaştırmalara eleştirel bir yaklaşımla tartışılmış ve Türkiye’de HIV/AIDS’e yönelik, danışmanlık, test ve partner bilgilendirme hizmetlerini de içeren kapsamlı bir politika gerekliliğine işaret etmiştir.
Collegium antropologicum
Risk behavior of customers in centers for free voluntary HIV counselling and testing in two Croatian cities--Osijek and Zadar2010 •
The primary goal of this research is to compare risks and occurrence of HIV infection in Osijek-Baranja and Zadar County. Several chosen socioeconomic factors controlled by sex and age were investigated including level of education, employment and marital status of the free-of charge voluntary counseling and testing center (VCT) customers in the towns of Osijek and Zadar and their risk behaviors for acquiring HIV. Bivariate analysis of the differences between the customers from Osijek and Zadar showed statistically significant differences in the following variables: gender, education, number of VCT clients who use intravenous drugs (IDU), promiscuous behavior, number of homosexual clients, mode of receiving information on the VCT services, marital and partnership status, having children, inclination towards homosexual and bisexual relations, the main reasons for not using condoms, injecting drugs (IDU) needle sharing and the occurrence of hepatitis C. The analysis showed that signif...
International Journal of Epidemiologic Research
Situational Analysis on Voluntary Counseling and Confidential Testing in HIV/AIDS Patients Referred to Behavioral Center in lmam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran2017 •
Revista Odonto Ciencia
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