Abstract:

Introduction: 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 determined the factors that influence the uptake of VCT among secondary school students in Mwanza region, Tanzania.

Methodology: This study was a cross sectional study and it was conducted in Nyamagana district from 1st to 30th of September, 2021. The sample size was 320 participants and a presented structured questionnaire was used to determine sociodemographic data, knowledge, attitude and Factors towards the VCT services. Data analysis was done through IBM SPSS 20 computer program. Frequencies and Cross tabulations were used for the descriptive analysis of the data

Results: Of 320 study participants, 60.6% were male and 39.4% were female. 91.3% of the respondent were aware of how VCT service work, 98.8% of the respondent believed that VCT service is useful for those who need to know their status. On VCT uptake, only 14.7% had ever tested. VCT uptake was found to be significantly predicted by level of study (p<0.001), age (p<0.00), sex (p<0.001), exposure to VCT Centre(p<0.001)

Conclusion: Despite high knowledge on VCT services, the uptake of VCT among secondary school students was found to be low. The uptake of VCT was mainly found to be influenced by fear of HIV results, knowledge and attitude on VCT services, age, education, engagement in sexual activity, stigma and distance to the VCT Centre. Integration of youth friendly VCT services in secondary schools would increase VCT uptake among secondary school students. Support and care received after knowing the test results should be clearly communicated as it helps motivate more young people towards VCT uptake and reduce stigma among them.