ABSTRACT
Generally, two levels of services are defined to manage HIV/AIDS epidemic, comprising HIV testing and counseling (HTC) services. In this letter our emphasis is on HTC services in line with achieving the first goal of 90-90-90 UNAIDS’ program which is 90% of all infected people with HIV should know their status. Iran developed a comprehensive harm reduction program through establishing Voluntary Counseling and Testing services (VCT) within “triangular clinics.” As a result, it witnessed an increase in access to HTC both for injection drug users (IDUs) and individuals with sexual transmission risks. However, Iran has been facing two major obstacles including a remarkable gap between the estimated (75,700) and identified (28,663) number of HIV-infected individuals and a change in HIV transmission route from the second to the third wave that is sexual contact. To combat these weaknesses three strategies should be considered: (a) integrating HTC programs to primary care package, (b) training and motivating healthcare providers in pre and post-test counseling, and (c) attracting participation of private sector.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.