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Caunselling can empower you!

We help you to keep you on your toes for your psychological health prior and after the HIV test. HIV Counselling is the gateway to treatment, care and support.

Pre Test Caunselling

You go for Pre Test Counselling before you decide whether you want to have the HIV antibody test.

Pre Test Caunselling

Post Test Counselling happens after you have had the test

Ongoing HIV/AIDS Counselling

Ongoing counselling is the kind of counselling that happens after you have received your test result and it is positive.


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People also ask

The Window Period

When HIV first gets into your body, your immune system recognizes it as harmful and makes special disease fighting cells called antibodies. Your body takes between 6 and 12 weeks to make these antibodies. The HIV antibody test looks for these special cells and not for HIV itself. If you have an HIV antibody test before your body has made these fighting cells, the test will be HIV antibody negative, even though HIV is in your body. This time when you have HIV in your body but your immune system has not made antibodies yet is known as the WINDOW PERIOD. It is important to remember that if you have HIV in your body, even if you have tested HIV antibody negative, you can still pass the virus onto someone else if you have unprotected sex. If you get tested after 12 weeks, your test will be HIV antibody positive. This will mean that you have HIV.

What kind of HIV antibody test will be used?

Some services use the ELISA HIV antibody test. A sample of blood will be taken from a vein in your arm. This sample will be sent to the nearest laboratory where the ELISA test will be conducted. The results take between one and three weeks.

Some HIV/AIDS counselling and testing sites use the Rapid HIV Test. If the test is a blood one, the tip of your finger will be pricked with a special kind of needle and a drop of blood squeezed out. Using a thin glass tube, the drop of blood will be put into a small window in the test strip. Drops of special fluid will be added to this test window to help the blood move up the length of the strip. The test result will be ready in 15 minutes.