Background: HIV testing and counseling are entry points to HIV-related carernand prevention services, and provide opportunities for people to reduce theirrnrisk of acquiring or transmitting HIV. Very little has been done to assess thernquality of VCT services in Addis Ababa.rnObjective: A cross sectional, facility based study was conducted in Februaryrn2006 to assess the quality of VCT services in Addis Ababa.rnMethodology: It used structured questionnaires adopted from standardizedrnUNAIDS materials. The study involved 41 different VCT sites, 65 VCTrncounselors and 403 VCT clients for exit interview. Six clients per counselor forrnexit interview were selected systematically. Descriptive statistics were computedrnfor most of the variables. A non parametric comparison was made for timernvariables among the three service provider sites. SPSS version 11.0 was used tornenter, clean, and analyze the data.rnResults: Only 27 (69.2%) VCT sites provide follow up counseling for HIVrnpositive individuals besides Pre- and Post-test counseling services. Twenty twornVCT sites have a separate counseling room with adequate space. Out of 65rncounselors, 61 (93.8%) were nurses and only 20 (30.8%) were self motivated tornbe one. In-service training was given for only 11(16.6%) counselors and only 24rn(36.9%) attend counselorsâ€™ support group. Over 83% of the clients came selfrnreferred and 177 (43.9%) clients chose the specific VCT site because it wasrnclose to home. The median waiting time to see a counselor was longer inrngovernment sites and waiting time to get test results was longer in private VCTrnsites. Over 79% of the clients were generally satisfied by the service.rnConclusions: Majority of the VCT sites in Addis Ababa fulfilled the minimumrnrequirements recommended by the WHO. There seemed to be lack of ongoingrncounseling training and support for counselors. There was a high satisfactionrnviiirnrate by the clients. However, counseling session durations were found to be lessrnthan the recommended.rnRecommendations: The regional government should take measures to enhancernquality VCT services within the already available sites and establish more freernstanding sites. A strong counselorsâ€™ support group should be formed and be ablernto enroll as many members as possible. Further studies should apply directrnobservation of counseling sessions.