English |

Governments and donors encourage the integration of family planning into voluntary HIV counseling and testing (VCT) services. Researchers aimed to determine whether VCT counselors could feasibly offer family planning and whether clients would accept such services. Clients demonstrated lower than expected immediate need for contraception, but, despite the relatively low risk this population had for unwanted pregnancy, family planning counseling in VCT increased from 2 to 41% for women and from 3 to 29% for men  (P<0.01). Approximately, 6% of clients received contraceptive methods. However, sexually active men and women and those with more perceived HIV risk were more likely to obtain contraceptives and intend to use condoms consistently. Men attending facilities with higher client loads were 88% less likely to receive family planning information and 93% less likely to receive contraceptives than those attending facilities with lower client loads. Conclusion: Integrating VCT and family planning services is likely to be an effective programmatic option, but populations at risk for HIV or unintended pregnancy should be targeted.