Abstract:

Background: Voluntary counseling and testing is the process by which an individual undergoes counseling, enabling him or her to make an informed choice about being tested for HIV. Voluntary HIV counseling and testing (VCT) is a key strategy towards HIV prevention yet, the uptake of VCT services among young people remains low. This study determine the awareness and perception towards voluntary counseling and testing for HIV/AIDS in the era of test and treat among secondary school in Nyamagana district.

Objectives of the study: To determine the awareness and perception towards voluntary counseling and testing for HIV/AIDS in the era of test and treat among secondary school students in Nyamagana district.

Methodology: A cross sectional study using quantitative methods was conducted. A multi-stage sampling method was applied to randomly select the secondary schools. Random and systematic sampling techniques were used to identify the study participants. Interviews were conducted using structured questionnaires. Data analysis was done using statistic computer software SPSS version 20 and data was interpreted presented based on objectives.

Results: The total of 384 secondary school students were involved in the study where by 191 (49.7%) were male and 193 (50.3%) were female with the different age from 15-21 years. 80.5% of the respondents were aware of the VCT services, 78.4% had high knowledge on VCT services, 100% had good perception towards VCT services, 47.1% have visited the VCT centers, and 89.8% are ready for HIV testing.

Conclusion: Despite good awareness and perception of the students on VCT services, the visit to the VCT center had been a problem with a very significant number of participants who have never visit the VCT center due to different reasons including fear of the results, ideology that their young that they cannot be affected, stigmatization, distance of the VCT centers, the service is expensive, lack of confidentiality, no parents participation on educating their children, poor mass media promotion and emphasize on the VCT service.