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An investigation of the uptake of voluntary counselling and testing by adolescents aged 15 to 19 at two integrated youth friendly service sites in Gauteng, South Africa

Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) is at the core of HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and care programmes. Timely access to treatment and related services requires knowledge of one‟s HIV status. Adolescents are at the epicentre of the HIV and AIDS pandemic. This study investigated the factors that influence adolescents‟ decisions to actively seek VCT. Semi-structured, in-depth individual interviews were conducted with twelve adolescents aged 15 to 19 who were conveniently selected to participate in the study. The study found that adolescents have extensive knowledge regarding the benefits of VCT and acknowledge the need to test for HIV. However, fear of the consequences of testing positive for HIV such as stigmatisation by family and the community, inability to influence their partners to take an HIV test and the inability to make their own decisions and follow through on them still hinder their maximum uptake of VCT. / Sociology / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/8050
Date02 1900
CreatorsNdzombane, Lindelwa
ContributorsKoen, Elize
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeDissertation
Format1 online resource (xvi, 188 leaves) : illustrations, application/pdf

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