Provider-Initiated HIV Testing and Counseling of TB Patients - Livingstone District, Zambia, September 2004 - December 2006

This report summarizes results from a provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling (PITC) pilot study conducted by the Zambian Ministry of Health, with assistance from the CDC Global AIDS Program Zambia, during September 2004 - December 2006. The study subjects were patients at three clinics in the Livingstone District of the Southern Province of Zambia. Among 4,148 persons diagnosed with TB, 2,072 (50%) were tested for HIV, and 1,497 of them (72%) tested positive. Findings demonstrate the practicality and acceptance of PITC and HIV rapid testing and support, and the need to expand the program to TB clinical settings in Zambia and other countries with high rates of TB and HIV.