AIDS voluntary counseling and testing results in Wenzhou, 2007

Objective　The study was conducted to investigate the socio demographic characteristics of people seeking AIDS voluntary counseling and testing (VCT), reasons for doing so and their HIV infection rates in Wen Zhou, providing evidence for the development of AIDS control and prevention strategies. Methods　A total of 555 visitors to the VCT clinic of the center for disease prevention and control in Wen Zhou were anonymously interviewed with trained medical professionals. HIV antibody test was performed based on the visitor's own decision. Collected information and test results were statistically analyzed. Results　People aged 20 to 29 years constituted the major of 555 subjects, accounting for 52.61%. The sex ratio was 6.12∶1, and 39.28% of them were of college or higher education level; 24.68% of them worked for commercial service. The primary reason for counseling was high risk sexual behaviors, including heterosexual activity (69.91%), never using condoms (31.71%), and so forth. 100% subjects received HIV antibody test, and 13 positive HIV antibody case were detected, the detection rate being 2.34%, including 9 men transmitted through heterosexual activities; 53.85% of the positive cases were local household registers of Wenzhou. Conclusion　Young and highly educated men predominated in the counseling people, and sexual activity was the primary reason for counseling. Heterosexual activity was the major transmission route in detected HIV infected cases. Therefore, the implementation of VCT should be continued to intensify the education on AIDS prevention and control for sexually active population and the intervention of high risk behaviors.