A mobile VCT unit in Nairobi. PHOTO / FILE
 It makes a lot of sense to know one’s HIV status.
If infected, one can access life-prolonging treatment and if not, one can make a decision to remain negative. But standing between fatal ignorance and empowering awareness is a 30-minute HIV test that many are afraid to take.
The HIV testing service is readily available, at no cost, at the numerous Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centres countrywide, yet the thought of testing elicits hesitation.
According to the Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey of 2007, two-thirds of Kenyans had never been tested for HIV and could, therefore, not access the appropriate ervices for prevention, care and treatment.
Among the untested are those who feel they are low-risk and therefore feel no compulsion to take the test. And then there is the fraction who are afraid of becoming aware of their status, or who are too afraid that other people will find out their test results.
Almost four times more women than men get tested, primarily because HIV tests are now compulsory for pregnant women.
In other words, if it was entirely voluntary, perhaps not as many women would know their status. And four out of five HIV infected persons do not know their status. Why are people so afraid of the test 30 years after HIV was first discovered?
Jane Thiomi, a counselor at the Liverpool Voluntary Testing and Counseling Centre says that though stigma levels have reduced, people still have personal fears.
“Women are afraid that after disclosure of a positive status they will be abandoned. They are also afraid about whether they can still get children if they turn out to be HIV-positive,” the counsellor says.
To get to the root of the fears that keep people from being tested, we talked to women who felt the fear and got tested anyway and how that has made a difference in their lives.
Let’s talk about the first test.
Ruth Maingi: The first test took guts. I was hesitant about it as I was barely out of my teens. The statistics then showed that people in my age group were the most susceptible and I thought my boyfriend and I needed to get tested.
I agonized for two months, trying to summon the courage to go for the test. I hardly heard a word the counsellor was saying. I was sweating and going crazy with questions. What if I was positive? What would people say? Would I survive?
Yvonne Okwara: I had my first HIV test at a private lab four years ago. With my scientific background – in microbiology – I felt I was well informed about HIV and all I needed was the test. Furthermore, the thought of going for counselling first was scary. It was something I had discussed with my boyfriend but it took two years before we followed through.
I knew that having HIV is not a death sentence as one can still live a full life, as long as you live a healthy lifestyle and take the prescribed medication; but that did little to quell the emotional turmoil within.