NIGER: More people tested as AIDS acceptance grows

JOHANNESBURG, 3 June 2004 (PlusNews) - More people in Niger are voluntarily being tested for HIV as acceptance and understanding of the disease improves, health workers have pointed out.

Dr Kadidiatu Gouro, director of the Anonymous and Voluntary Testing Centre (CEDAV) in the capital, Niamey, told the UN news service, PlusNews, that the public perception of the disease had changed and people no longer associated it with death.

She noted that greater awareness about the disease had also helped to encourage more people to be tested.

"The number of screening tests has steadily risen. Last year 2,500 people underwent HIV testing. This year nearly 1,500 tests have been carried out. With seven more months to go, the previous year's figure could easily be passed," Gouro said.