Scale-up of voluntary HIV counseling and testing in Kenya

Extract: Overburdened health care systems in resource-poor countries are unable to cope with the impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the increased responses to treatment that have been proposed internationally. There is an urgent need for robust, replicable approaches that meet the need for rapid expansion of HIV testing services. Provision and utilization of voluntary HIV counseling and testing (VCT) services in Kenya expanded rapidly between 2000 and 2005. Lessons learned from increasing access to VCT are applicable to global efforts to increase access to HIV prevention, care, and antiretroviral therapy (ART).