Welcome to New Start

Going for HIV counselling and testing gives you an opportunity to plan for a better, healthier life, whether you test negative or positive. At New Start all the staff you will encounter, from the receptionist to the counsellor and to the tester, make every effort to ensure that the process is as comfortable as possible. The entire counselling and testing process usually takes about one hour. Clients can come back for follow up counselling if they need it.

New Start does not test clients below the age of 14.

Welcome and Registration

When you arrive at New Start, a receptionist will welcome you and open a file for you. You will be given a card with a number on it. This card is your New Start ID card, no one else will have that number and this is the number that will appear on all the forms in your file. When you come back for follow up counselling you need to present this card so the staff can pull out your file. New Start services are anonymous, i.e. we do not ask you for your name, the number on your card is your identification so keep it safe.

The fee for New Start services is R25 at all our fixed sites. Nobody is ever turned away because they do not have money. At the mobile sites the services are free.

After registration the receptionist will show you to a waiting room where you will wait for the next available counsellor.