‘Virtual-friendly’ HIV testing and counseling centres started in Mumbai – Hindustan Times

Mumbai In an attempt to bring more people from vulnerable communities into the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICTC) being run by the government, Mumbai District AIDS Control Society (MDACS) started virtual-friendly centres at three civic hospitals in December last year. At these facilities, members of LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) community, who counsellors have already reached out to online, get fast-tracked services.

The existing ICTC centres at Trauma Centre at Jogeshwari, Kurla’s Bhabha Hospital and Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar have been made more virtual-friendly. Services here take into account the inhibitions that normally keep people away like fear of discrimination or being identified and the long queues at government hospitals. The virtual friendly centres will encourage vulnerable populations to take tests for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases as well as provide them support in distress situations.

“Even today, only 70% of the HIV positive people In Mumbai are aware of their HIV status. This is because people from at-risk communities usually go to private practitioners, and not many return for follow-up services,” said additional project director for MDACS Dr Vijay Karanjkar.

As a result, a huge chunk of the HIV positive population is not linked to the antiretroviral therapy (ART) setups in the government-run hospitals, neither are they on the government’s records as PLHIVs. “Moreover, people who are newly diagnosed with the disease need access to counselling and other services which bodies like MDACS and their NGO partners do thorough follow-ups on. We felt the need to reach out to more people and find out why they avoid using public sector services,” said Dr Karanjkar.

To find the answer to this question, they partnered with NGOs who helped pilot the virtual outreach model. Under this, trained counselors interacted with vulnerable population like the LGBTQ community through social media and dating apps. They took people into confidence to take HIV testing and other facilities.

The plans for the virtual friendly ICTC centres are based on the findings of the inhibitions shared by people on these platforms. Once a person from one of these platforms is convinced by a counselor to use a government facility, the counselors at the respective centre are filled in about the expectations, day of visit and other such details.

“Long wait time with the possibility of bumping into an acquaintance was cited by many virtual respondents as a reason they avoided government facilities. Therefore, we decided to fast track the cases that come to the centres through virtual counseling to avoid those pitfalls,” said Dr Karanjkar. The counselors at the SHAKTI clinics in these three centres have been sensitised to help maintain the confidentiality, he added.

This service will soon be extended to other ICTC centres, all of whom would have an outreach counselor who would specifically be working towards reaching out to people through online media.