HIV testing attitudes, AIDS stigma, and voluntary HIV counselling and testing in a black township in Cape Town, South Africa

A cornerstone of HIV prevention in South Africa is voluntary HIV antibody counselling and testing (VCT), but only one in five South Africans aware of VCT have been tested. This study examined the relation between HIV testing history, attitudes towards testing, and AIDS stigmas.

Men (n = 224) and women (n = 276) living in a black township in Cape Town completed venue intercept surveys; 98% were black, 74% age 35 or younger.