Mobile clinic makes difference in Cape Town

A mobile clinic in Cape Town that is used to test for a range of diseases, including AIDS, has been declared a success so far.

The Tutu Tester mobile clinic tours the neighbourhoods of the South African city and has tested more than 7,000 people since it started ten months ago.

Just fewer than half of these were being tested for the first time, which suggests that the confidential nature of the mobile clinic is appealing to people who may not get tested in other locations.

Liz Thebus, one of the Tutu Tester's health workers, told the Inter Press Service: "Many of our patients have told us that they prefer not to go to public clinics for an HIV test because they are afraid of being seen by people they know.

"Because we test for other diseases too, like diabetes and high blood pressure, the outside world does not know for what reason patients are waiting at our doors."

The next target for the service is to add a test for TB.

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