Assessment Of Utilization And Determinants Of Voluntary Counseling And Testing For Hiv In The Armed Forces Of Ethiopia

Military personnel are among the core groups most at risk to HIV acquisition and transmissionrnbecause of their occupation and lifestyle. Available data shows that voluntary counseling andrntesting for HIV uptake was low in the members of Ethiopian army. It is known that VCT forrnHIV is crucial strategy for HIV prevention. Therefore, identifying rate of VCT and factorsrncorrelated with low uptake in the army could intensify the national responses to the HIVrnpandemic.rnA cross-sectional survey was conducted on randomly selected 917 male army members ofrnrandomly selected Division of Northern command, deployed in Eastern Tigray about 900kmrnnorth to Addis Ababa in October 2006. After data was collected, using pre-tested structured andrnstandard questionnaire, cleaned, entered and analyzed using SPSS. Odds ratio with 95 %rnconfidence interval was used to test statistical significance and degree of association.rnThe median age of respondents was 28(±5.6), with age range from 18-47 years. The majority ofrnparticipants 567(61.8%) were between 18–29 years of age. Almost 99% of the participants werernliterate, and 441(48.1%) were ever married and the median age at first marriage was 25 years.rnThe data showed that 430(46.9%) of all participants were tested for HIV of which 421 werernthrough VCT. The data also revealed that VCT utilization rate in the study subjects was 45.9%.rnThe most common reason for VCT was ‘to know self’, 86.2%. All participants who had VCTrnwere satisfied with the service given. Among 487 HIV non-tested participants the reasons givenrnfor non-uptake of VCT were no near by service 38.8%, afraid to get test result 33.9%, fear ofrnstigma 17.7%, and partner and/or self-trust 13.8%.rn9rnUsing multiple logistic regression analysis, controlling for various demographic characteristics,rnas well as behavioral, cognitive, social, and VCT service related factors; it was found thatrnsoldiers with the following characteristics were most likely to have undergone VCT. Those whorndiscussed HIV/AIDS with in the family, those who ever had sexual contact, those who knew arnperson infected with HIV or died of AIDS, those who were knowledgeable about the uses ofrnVCT, and those who had non-stigmatizing attitude towards PLWHA. On the other hand it wasrnfound that soldiers with the following characteristics were less likely to have undergone VCT:rnthose who were currently not married but living with sexual partner, those who had uncertaintyrnabout their HIV status, and those who preferred integrated VCT clinics located in the civilianrnhealth institution.rnThis study shown that rate of VCT utilization in the army is increasing and many variablesrnshown correlation with VCT-uptake. Therefore, we recommend that interventions be aimed atrnthose variables suggesting causation and to scale up VCT services. Furthermore, we recommendrnthat qualitative research be conducted to identify which of these correlations have a causalrnrelationship to VCT-uptake

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