Scale-up of Voluntary HIV Counseling and Testing in Kenya
- Marum, Elizabeth PhD
- Taegtmeyer, Miriam BMBCh, DTM&H
- Chebet, Kenneth MBChB, MPH
US Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Global AIDS Program, Nairobi, Kenya (Dr Marum); Liverpool Voluntary Counseling and Testing and Care, Nairobi, Kenya, and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, England (Dr Taegtmeyer); and National AIDS and STD Control Programme, Nairobi, Kenya (Dr Chebet). Dr Chebet is now with the Johns Hopkins Program for International Education on Gynecology and Obstetrics, Nairobi, Kenya.
Corresponding Author: Elizabeth Marum, PhD, US Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Global AIDS Program, PO Box 606, 00621 Village Market, Nairobi, Kenya ([email protected]).
Financial Disclosures: None reported.
Funding/Support: The design and conduct of the scale-up of VCT services in Kenya was supported by the Government of Kenya, the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank, the UK Department for International Development, the US Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US HHS/CDC), Global AIDS Program, the US Agency for International Development, and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
Role of the Sponsors: The HHS/CDC and Liverpool VCT and Care supported the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data, and preparation, review, and approval of the manuscript.
Disclaimer: The program described in this commentary has been determined to be research not involving human subjects by the US HHS/CDC because data on persons receiving VCT are anonymous and persons cannot be identified. Data reported in this commentary are collected routinely for project management at all VCT sites in Kenya. No additional data for the purpose of this commentary were collected.
Acknowledgment: We thank the persons receiving VCT services, the District Health Management Teams and community and faith-based organizations involved, and the data departments at the Liverpool VCT and Care Center and the US HHS/CDC, Nairobi, Kenya. Specific contributions to this commentary were made by Kevin M. DeCock, MD, US CDC, Global AIDS Program, for providing comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript; June Odoyo, MBChB, MSc, employee of US CDC–Kenya, for providing substantial technical guidance to the national scale-up and participating in the writing of the first draft; Patrick Kamau, BSc, employee of US CDC–Kenya, for assisting in the analysis of data described in the commentary; Annrita Ikahu, RN, employee of Liverpool VCT and Care, Nairobi, Kenya, for technical assistance to the scale-up of VCT through the training and support of VCT counselors and district health management teams in 22 districts in Kenya and critical analysis of program design at all stages; and Carol Ngare, BA, VCT program manager, Government of Kenya, Ministry of Health, National AIDS and STD Control Program, for collecting data in regard to national VCT services and cost figures, and assisting in the collection of appropriate references. No compensation was received for these contributions.
