Pretoria - An innovative mobile HIV Test and Treat Clinic to be put out on a six months pilot could encourage more people to know their HIV status and reduce problematic queues in public clinics.
Shout-It-Now and the Department of Health launch the innovation in Pretoria on Thursday in front of numerous stakeholders and media.
The mobile clinic used advanced technology to test people for HIV/Aids outside the Winnie Mandela Clinic, Tembisa. It proved to be an innovation that public health facilities needed as continued to face unwanted long queues.
Shout-It-Now founder and chairman Bruce Forgrieve said because the mobile clinic was effective, it needed to be rolled out in a six months pilot as early as next week.
This would help clinics deal with sick patients by taking those people who only visited clinics to test their HIV/Aids statuses or learn more about the virus.
The mobile clinic would take people’s fingerprints before tests so that it would later recognise users who may identify themselves under different names in future.
This would enable the clinic to create a confidential database accessed by the department of health as per public clinics.
Forgrieve said the mobile clinic already helped test thousands of people in Ekurhuleni as it was put to the test. Users were not asked uncomfortable questions and those who tested positive, and were eligible, received ARV treatment immediately.
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