The voluntary, free-of-charge, rapid
and confidential testing program
for HIV, HVB and HVC
“The people residing in Dobrogea region are very interested in checking
their health: 77% of the population included in the Baylor assessment
requested to get tested on its own initiative, not by following health
professionals’ advice.” – as the transversal evaluation Baylor has
conducted for five years on a population of 36,000 people and published
in the Balkan Medical Journal in March 2018.
The voluntary HIV testing program has been running uninterruptedly since
2007. In 2010, Baylor Black Sea Foundation has expanded its testing
program for hepatitis B and C, the program having a positive impact in the
life of our community.
The voluntary testing is performed in three testing centers, two in
Constanţa and one in Tulcea; a mobile testing laboratory allows the testing
teams to move to remote locations to conduct free-of-charge hepatitis B,
hepatitis C and HIV tests.
The Voluntary, Free-of-charge, Rapid and Confidential Testing Program for
HIV, HVB and HVC conducted by Baylor gives the advantage that, after
an appointment anyone can schedule online or by telephone, without
asking for other documents or following certain procedures, there can be
tested and diagnosed people who do not report or show any symptoms,
this being the case of the vast majority of the persons carrying such viral
infections.
Following the testing, people diagnosed with one of the three infections
are provided further support, in order to obtain therapy.
Baylor’s experience shows that the largest proportion of chronic infections
for hepatitis C ranges in the age group of over 40 years and for hepatitis B
it ranges in the age group over 50 years. In regards of the HIV infection, the
largest proportion of infections is reported for the age groups between 25
and 29 and between 30 and 39 years.
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