The use of a monitoring tool to assess counselling and HIV testing in the public health sector in Malawi.

Scaling up of counselling and HIV testing (VCT) services requires a system of regular monitoring and evaluation. AVCT monitoring tool was developed through a consultative process and used to assess counselling and HIV testing services in 16 government and mission hospitals in Malawi, which had started expanded HIV-TB activities in July 2003. The essential components of theVCT monitoring tool included assessments of: (i) the hospital VCT personnel, in particular the number of counsellors (full-time and part-time) and those trained in and performing whole blood rapid HIV testing; (ii) the hospital laboratory service, in particular the protocols for HIV testing; (iii) the number, structure and function of dedicated VCT rooms; (iv) registers for patients, clients and donors having HIV tests; and (v) the quality of VCT through structured interviews with HIV-positive patients with TB. The main findings were: 9644 patients and clients were HIV tested between July and September 2003; HIV testing protocols were not standardized and differed between hospitals; there was little in the way of external quality assurance and there were deficiencies in the counselling process. In each hospital, the mean time taken to obtain the data and complete theVCT monitoring tool was 3 h. TheVCT monitoring tool is straightforward to use, and the data collected should help to improve standardization, quality and future planning of VCT services in the country.