YESTERDAY was designated `National Testing Day’ in Guyana and the Guyana National Newspapers Limited (GNNL) which on September 10 launched a $12M HIV/AIDS workplace programme, was among several places which have set up VCT testing sites.

The site where company employees, residents and other workers in the immediate environs were encouraged to visit voluntarily to know their status, was set up at the company’s Sports Club, located across the road from the Lama Avenue printing plant. HIV/AIDS Focal Point at the Chronicle, Ms. Paula Sampson, in an invited comment about 17:30 h, just as four persons arrived to access the service, said she was overwhelmed at what she described as a “productive” exercise, reckoning that some 70 persons may have visited the facility during the course of the day.

On hand to offer the services were two certified testers trained by National Aids Programme Secretariat (NAPS), but unfortunately one was recalled to do service at another location and this considerably slowed the process.

GNNL’s target points included the three gas stations in the vicinity, Shell Low’s, Esso and Texaco, a garment factory, Popeye’s, KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants and residences. According to Sampson, while a general interest was visibly among those who visited the facility, a number of them due to the nature of their employment and the wait that had to endure, were forced to leave without being tested and the disappointment was evident.

Sampson explained that it is a requirement that before a person is tested the individual is counselled which in itself takes time.

A number of educational brochures and other reading materials on HIV/AIDS were available for persons who utilised the facility yesterday, and during the period of waiting, persons watched HIV/AIDS related movies.

The Focal Point disclosed that yesterday’s exercise is not the end all for those who were tested at the GNNL facility, as she will shortly be embarking on a follow-up exercise, that is conducting sensitisation sessions.

Additionally, because of the interest shown by the GNNL employees and other visitors, Sampson said she would be making every effort to acquire the services of a VCT mobile teams to conduct another exercise, targeting those who would have missed yesterday’s opportunity for one reason or another.