Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - August 11, 2006
Belinda Beresford
In addition, up to 10 000 concert-goers will be able to get free tickets - if they can prove theyÆve had an HIV test in the preceding two weeks.
The move is part of a campaign to encourage HIV testing among the "unworried well, as well as the worried unwell", as one expert put it.
Regular testing is seen as key to preventing new infections and helping people already living with the virus. The evidence is still unclear on whether knowing that one does not have HIV encourages safer sexual behaviour. But experts believe that testing for HIV - and particularly rapid testing which gives results within nerve-wracking minutes - is one of the most effective methods of making people realise that they, personally, are at risk.
Conventional approaches to encourage testing have been criticised for being ineffectual, and experts are looking for different and more assertive ways, of persuading people to know their HIV status and slow the spread of the virus. The biennial International Aids Conference in Toronto this week will have a strong focus on prevention.
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