Assessing the cost and willingness to pay for voluntary HIV counselling and testing in Kenya

Abstract

Integrating services into existing health centres can significantly reduce the cost of VCT. Additional cost reductions may be feasible if health centre staff are hired to perform the counselling. Furthermore, it appears that some level of cost recovery from VCT clients is feasible and can contribute to sustainability, although it is very unlikely that the full cost of the service could be recovered from the clients. The national provision of VCT in all Kenyan health centres is likely to be an affordable option, although additional operational research is required to determine the most appropriate way of scaling up VCT services throughout the country.