France’s HIV testing policy is based on personal responsibility and voluntary testing. Anonymous and free HIV testing clinics (CDAG) were established in 1988 in every department, within healthcare facilities or venereal disease clinics. These CDAG clinics could operate satellite locations, particularly in prisons. The free testing program was expanded in July 1992—though no longer anonymously—to venereal disease clinics (DAV) not designated as CDAGs, to premarital and prenatal consultations at maternal and child health centers (PMI), and then in August 1992 to contraception consultations at family planning and education centers (CPEF). The number of tests performed under the free screening program appeared to decline during 1998 (255,000 tests compared to 292,000 in 1997). The overall proportion of positive tests has steadily declined over the years, and this trend continued in 1998 (5.2 positive tests per thousand in 1997 and 4.1 positive tests per thousand in 1998).