One government social-awareness advertisement that caught the eye was the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) offering free HIV test, and counselling at all government hospitals. Knowing where most government-funded programmes flounder, I decided to try the test and counselling myself.
The test is supposed to be available at government hospitals in what is called a Integrated Testing and Counselling Centre (ICTC). I headed to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, near Delhi’s ITO. I reached the hospital only to realise it was a veritable maze, with no signs saying anything about the centre. After spending half-an-hour looking for it, I was directed to the gynaecology department where I was told politely that this ICTC centre was only for pre-natal HIV screening of pregnant women. The attendants helpfully directed me to the adjacent Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC). “The ICTC there is in Room 281 in the pathology building,” I was told.
I was pleasantly surprised that so far nobody had given me a “weird stare” as I enquired about the location of the HIV test centre. Is HIV, being openly discussed? At MAMC there was an ICTC board but again, directions were absent. Once I reached the room, I was immediately offered a seat by the attendants, one male and a female. They explained lucidly to me, before I took the test how HIV is spread, and wanted to know how I may have contracted the infection, and how long ago the exposure to it had been. I filled some forms with my basic personal data, and made up the time frame of four months of exposure because it usually takes three months for HIV to show up in a test. I was told not to worry about the outcome of the test and there would be a counselling session post-test, regardless of the outcome.
The blood sample collection was done in a jiffy, and I was told my report would be ready in a day’s time. I was impressed with the professionalism and clinical hygiene observed. If the levels of service are similar at all ICTC centres, then surely it requires a little more prominence, not only on television, but also at government hospitals.
Score: 8/10. More visibility and publicity at hospitals is required
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