The New Humanitarian | Focus on Voluntary Counselling and Testing
CHITUNGWIZA Helen (not her real name) began to suspect she was HIV-positive in August 2002, when her husband died of tuberculosis. Only 35 years old, she needs a walking stick to get around. She has lost about nine kilograms over the past few months and does not have the energy she used to. Her blouse hangs off her shoulders and her eyes look bloodshot and tired. Helen is one of 15 people, mainly women, waiting to be tested for HIV at a voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) centre in Chitungwiza, a small town 30 km outside Zimbabwe's capital city of Harare. Like many of the others, Helen sa...