What is DPST? DPST or Voluntary Confidential HIV Counseling and Testing is a confidential conversation between a client who wants to be tested for HIV and a counselor a specially trained doctor, which is performed with respect and respect for the client and maximum confidentiality (everything the client says will never be passed on to another person). During the pre-test counseling, the client will be informed about how HIV testing is done and what the test result means. The client will decide for himself whether he wants to be tested. During the counseling, the client can talk about everything openly, ask questions, and talk about their dilemmas, fears and worries. The laboratory in which the testing is performed is functionally connected to the counseling center.
The client will also receive the test result in the counseling center (counseling after the test). Only the client and the counselor can know the test result.
Can Someone Take The Test Result Instead Of The Counseling Client?
The test result, reactive or non-reactive, is communicated personally to the client (not by phone or mail, not to his doctor or other person).
What if the HIV test result is reactive?
A reactive HIV test result is only a preliminary result. He does not say that the person being tested is HIV positive or that he is HIV negative. In the case of a reactive finding, a confirmatory HIV test must be performed, which may also be reactive or non-reactive. Only if the confirmatory test is reactive can it be said that the tested person is HIV positive.
How is a confirmatory HIV test done?
A client who needs a confirmatory HIV test is once again given blood from a vein. This blood is sent to one of the laboratories that do the confirmatory test, and the client is notified by phone when to call the counseling center, in order to be informed of the result. Regardless of whether the finding of the confirmatory test is reactive or non-reactive, it is communicated exclusively in person, in the counseling center. You can also go for the sti test kit in this case.
If someone is found to be HIV positive, does that mean they have AIDS?
A person’s HIV positive status means that the person is infected with HIV and can transmit HIV to others through risky behavior. HIV positivity (HIV infection) is not a disease. An HIV-positive person can live, work, go to school, have a family normally for years and decades. The only change in the life of an HIV-positive person after learning about their HIV status is the need to go for regular check-ups with an infectologist and take therapy if necessary.
Is there a cure for AIDS?
There is still no cure for the virus. However, since 1994, and in the last few years, highly active antiretroviral therapy has been used in the world, which prevents the progression of the infection and its timely and regular application enables infected people to continue leading a normal life, following good advice and recommendations.
Should pregnant women be tested for HIV?
If the mother is known to be HIV positive, today it is possible to reduce the risk of her newborn being HIV positive to less than 2%. That is why it is very important for every pregnant woman to be tested during pregnancy, in order to find out her HIV status. This test is best done during the first trimester of pregnancy.
