Analysis of HIV voluntary counseling and testing in Dehong prefecture of Yunnan province

Objective To understand HIV voluntary counseling and testing(VCT)services in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,Dehong prefecture of Yunnan province.Methods Retrospective data including demographic and HIV laboratory testing information among individuals who received HIV VCT services at the VCT clinic in Dehong prefecture from January 2005 to November 2006 were collected and analyzed.Chi square was used to compare HIV prevalence rate between different groups.Fisher exact test was used where appropriate.Results Of the 578 people seeking VCT services during the two-year period,20.59% were HIV positive.The HIV prevalence rate in 2005 and 2006 had no statistical significance.Most of the individuals who sought VCT were young farmers with Han ethnicity.The ratio of males to females seeking VCT services was 1.4∶1.The HIV prevalence rate in the female was higher than that in the male.The HIV prevalence rate in the low educated people was higher than in the high educated ones.The main reason for seeking VCT was sexual contact,extramarital intercourse in particular.People who were injecting drug users had the highest HIV prevalence rate.Conclusion HIV VCT is an effective way to get people to be aware of their sero-status and to implement effective prevention and care interventions for both HIV-infected persons and AIDS patients.