MINISTER of Health Dr. Leslie Ramsammy Wednesday announced that Guyana’s second National Day of Testing was a huge success, as the target of 2,500 was surpassed.

On National Testing Day on November 16, 4,396 persons were tested for HIV/AIDS and reports from Regions One, Eight and Nine were not yet compiled.

“Guyana’s second National Day of Testing was a huge success; I believe we not only met our target and not only did we exceeded our target, but we have forged new partnerships in the fight against HIV/AIDS. We intend to build on these partnerships as we continue,” noted the Minister.

The minister at a press conference told members of the media that when the challenging target which was set for 2,500, many persons believed that the ministry of health was ambitious. The minister pointed out that in some studies that were done, Guyana now have a reduced prevalence of 1.5% and the prevalence from the National Day of Testing, which was an unscientific method, 1.01% prevalence was recorded. He added that this is a further indication that Guyana is reversing the trend from an earlier period.

According to Dr. Ramsammy, Guyanese are now willing to know their status. He said this was very clear, since a lot of testing sites during the National Day of Testing had long lines. He noted that this is a strong indication that the ministry is succeeding in persuading people to know their status.

However, the minister is concerned about the overwhelming amount of women tested, and the limited amount of men, adding that it is a worrying trend that females seem to be more interested in their status. He stressed that knowing one’s status should apply to men and women.

The Ministry’s data will be looking at the age groups of the persons tested and also a regional breakdown.

The Ministry of Health, through the National AIDS Programme Secretariat, had recently launched its campaign for National Day of Testing throughout the country and November 16, 2007 was designated as that day.

Meanwhile, World AIDS Day is December 1, 2007 and a number of activities are on the ministry’s agenda. A day-long activity will be held at the Sophia Exhibition Centre, and it is expected that thousands will come out to participate.