Evaluation of uptake and attitude to voluntary counseling and testing among health care professional students in Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania

This was a cross-sectional study. A structured questionnaire was used among health care professional students aged 18–25 years who were enrolled in degrees, diplomas and certificates courses at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College and all other Allied health schoolsA total of 309 students were recruited, among these 197 (63.8%) were females. All respondents were aware of the benefits of VCT. Only 107 (34.6%) of students have had VCT done previously. About 59 (19.1%) of the students had negative for health care professional to attend VCT. Risk perception among the students was low (37.2%) even though they were found to have higher risk behaviors that predispose them to get HIV infection.Awareness of VCT services and willingness to test is high among students; however its uptake is low. In order to promote these services, a comprehensive training module on VCT needs to be included in their training curricula. In particular, more emphasis should focus on the benefits of VCT and to help the students to internalize the risk of HIV so that they can take preventive measures.Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a killer disease affecting all age groups from infants to old people [1]. HIV/AIDS has killed more than 3 million adults and children in the year 2005 and it is estimated that 5 million adults and children acquired the infection to make the number of adult and children with HIV/AIDS to be 42 million worldwide [2].Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most affected region in the world with an estimate of 22.5 million people living with HIV. Approximately 1.7 million new infections occurred in sub-Saharan Africa in the year 2007 [1]. Ten million young people aged 15–24 years and almost 3 million children under 15 years are living with HIV [1].Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest overall HIV sero-prevalence, especially among adults (15–49 years) population. However this varies between countries, ranging from less than 2% t