Condom use after voluntary counselling and testing in central Mozambique

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) for HIV/AIDS in changing risky sexual behaviour in central Mozambique. METHOD: Longitudinal cohort study of men and women aged at least 18 years from October 2002 to June 2003. We interviewed 622 participants in VCT groups and 598 in non-VCT groups. The interviews occurred before counselling and 4 and 6 months afterwards. RESULTS: Reported use of condoms while having sex with a friends/prostitute increased over each time period in the VCT group and between baseline and first visit in the non-VCT group. Both men and women in the VCT group increased their condom use over time, but the women in the non-VCT group did not. Reported always/sometimes use of condoms for both literate and illiterate subjects was higher and rose over time in the VCT group. CONCLUSION: People who undergo voluntary counselling and testing fro HIV/AIDS change their behaviour, presumably as a result of their counselling.