The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)
recently published new guidelines for programme planners, managers and service provid ers on “Inte grating HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Services in Reproductive Health Settings”.

The results from two different projects, conducted in CÔte d’Ivoire and India, indicate that integrating VCT into sexual and reproductive health services has exponential benefits: it reduces stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, strengthens awareness of healthy sexual behaviour, and increases access to and utilization of services.

Voluntary counseling and testing provides an effective means of preventing HIV transmission and an important entry point for treatment of HIV-related illnesses, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, tuberculosis control, and psychosocial and legal support.

The new guidelines reflect the experiences of these sites, as well as those of sites in Kenya, Rwanda and Ethopia. They were developed in collaboration with a broad range of partners, and draw on international literature of best practices. The guidelines provide practical informa tion on integrating VCT for HIV/AIDS within sexual and reproductive health services, using a stepwise approach that shows how to effectively plan, implement, monitor and evaluate an integrated service.

The guidelines are avail able in English, French and Spanish, and can be downloaded through the IPPF and UNFPA websites (www.ippf.org and www.unfpa.org).
(Source: IPPF Press Release, 17 February)