Students across multiple campuses support VCT Drive  

The campus wide Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) drive has proved to be a huge success, attracting hundreds of CPUT students.

The VCT campus drive, which is driven by the HIV/Aids Unit, has been a bi-annual feature on the CPUT calendar since 2005.

This year’s drive kicked off at Freedom Square Residence at Bellville campus on 9 March and will run up until 20 March.

Head of the HIV/Aids Unit, Dr Ashraf Mohammed said this year they would most likely reach much more students and staff because they have extended the VCT campus drive to additional CPUT sites.

During the past few years the drives were only held at Bellville and Cape Town campuses and occasionally at Granger Bay and Mowbray campuses.

But this year, it was extended to Tygerberg campus, and several student residences in Bellville and Cape Town.

Dr Mohammed said the move to extend the drive to other CPUT sites proved to be a “huge success.”

“We had an overwhelming response at Tygerberg campus,” he said.

At the student residences, the drive attracted large numbers of students who could not manage to get tested at the Bellville or Cape Town campuses.

Dr Mohammed said the main purpose of the VCT campus drive is to give students a chance to “just walk in and get tested.”

“Students prefer to come to the VCT campus drive because it is convenient, quick and they don’t have to make an appointment,” said Dr Mohammed.

Once students walk into the testing centre, they are given pre-counseling to put them at ease and are then required to sign consent forms before being tested.

Thereafter, students wait approximately 20 minutes before receiving their results in a confidential environment. Upon receiving the results, the students are given post counseling by trained counselors.

During this VCT campus drive, students were also given the option to sign a “Safer Sex Pledge” that highlights the Abstain (A), Be faithful (B) and Condomise (C) strategies (ABC).

Dr Mohammed said the VCT drives provide the HIV/Aids unit with an opportunity to reinforce healthy lifestyles among students in order to prevent risky behavior that could make them vulnerable to be infected with HIV.

“Our aim for those that test negative, is to keep them negative,” he said.

The VCT campus drive is also aimed at ensuring that those who do test positive have access to the care and support services offered by the unit’s Health Promoters and clinical support from the CPUT campus clinics.

Dr Mohammed said the VCT campus drive “compliments” the routine VCT service, which is offered at campus clinics (on both Cape Town and Bellville campuses only) throughout the academic year.

The next campus wide VCT drive is scheduled for the second semester.

By Candes Keating

Photo: Head of the HIV/Aids Unit, Dr Ashraf Mohammed looks on as a student participates in the VCT drive at the Tygerberg Campus.