You have full access to this open access article. In , a cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate effectiveness and feasibility of partner notification for HTS in Tanzania. Men and women newly diagnosed with HIV were enrolled as index clients, listed sexual partners, and given options to notify and link their partners to HTS.
Of newly diagnosed individuals, index clients were enrolled, listed sexual partners, of whom Results showed good acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness, as evidenced by high uptake of partner notification among newly diagnosed individuals, over half of listed partners successfully referred, and a very high positivity rate among referred sexual partners. Partner notificationβwhen partners of those recently diagnosed are notified of their exposure to a communicable diseaseβis an effective strategy to identify undiagnosed PLHIV and serodiscordant couples [ 5 ].
When health care providers conduct the notification, the provider notifies the partner of possible exposure without divulging the identity of the index client. If positive, partners are linked to HIV treatment services [ 7 ]. If negative, these partners may be at high risk of HIV infection and require additional prevention interventions if they remain in partnership with the index client.
The following methods of partner notification described in the literature are relevant to this study:. With passive referral, health workers encourage index clients to notify and refer their partners for HTS on their own simple [ 12 ], or with an invitation card or additional information enhanced.
Under contract referral, health workers encourage index clients to refer their partners for HIV testing, with the understanding that a health worker will contact partners who do not visit the site by an agreed-upon date. With provider referral, a trained health worker locates and notifies partners immediately and directly, while maintaining the anonymity of the index client [ 9 , 13 , 14 ].
