The Tutu Tester team
The TUTU TESTER is DTHF’s own brightly-coloured mobile clinic that provides HIV testing and screening for other common chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and hypertension to many under-serviced communities in greater Cape Town.
The concept represents DTHF's vision that HIV should be viewed as a chronic, treatable condition rather than one attached to stigma, discrimination and shame. By offering testing that is within reach of more South Africans and works outside of the traditional clinical setting, the TUTU TESTER promotes disease prevention as a self-initiated activity.
The programme’s focus is to reduce the risk of HIV acquisition and transmission in all tested clients irrespective of whether the test is positive or negative. All clients testing negative are counselled on how to preserve their negative status through individualized and innovative risk reduction counselling. Those testing positive are offered TB testing and their CD4 count and are referred to appropriate centres for follow-up care.
Since the TUTU TESTER’S inception in May 2008 until December 2009, our small team of dedicated staff has provided comprehensive and efficient HIV testing to over 12,000 people, of whom 60% were male and 40% were female. 41% of individuals reported testing for HIV for the first time. 9% of those that we see are clients returning to the mobile clinic for their follow-up HIV test. We have accessed a relatively healthy community as evidenced by relatively low HIV rates (11%) and a wide range of CD4 counts in those testing positive.
New developments:
- Our client data is managed using a Biometric system developed by The Broccoli Project (http://www.broccoliproject.org). Using the clients’ fingerprints we capture relevant medical details which can easily be retrieved at the next visit.
- The TUTU TESTER has incorporated TB testing through nebulized sputums into our screening programme thanks to Dr Katharina Kranzer, a PhD student from the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. This forms part of her study: “Active tuberculosis case finding in individuals accessing a mobile voluntary counselling and testing service”.
- DTHF designed and is now implementing a “Road to HIV Health” card to assist positive clients and nurses at their clinics with the monitoring of their disease by plotting viral loads and clients’ CD4 counts. In doing so, clients can easily keep track of their health.
DTHF is very grateful to Metropolitan Health Group and QUALSA for sponsoring the vehicle and CD4 machine. The staff, medical supplies and running costs have been made possible by funding through the Anova Health Institute from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and PEPFAR.
