Why HIV testing should be a national and international priority

The number of people infected with HIV continues to rise in Eastern Europe and late diagnosis remains a major problem in the entire European region.

Effective treatment for HIV has been available in Europe since the mid-1990s and has led to a dramatic reduction in the incidence of AIDS events and HIV-related deaths. Many people are now living with HIV as a chronic condition rather than an inevitable fatal illness. However, of the 2.3 million people living with HIV in the European region, it is estimated that at least one in three are unaware of their HIV status – resulting in late diagnosis and continued transmission across the region.

In more recent years, HIV has become less of a priority in many European countries – in some instances there is little or no funding available for free, confidential HIV testing. If the availability of free and confidential HIV testing services is reduced, it may result in an increase in late diagnosis and onward transmission.

HIV testing programmes require government support and funding in order to achieve impact. Leadership is needed to:

  • Motivate and support policy makers at all levels
  • Provide incentives for widening the reach of voluntary and confidential testing programmes and ensure they are appropriately targeted
  • Overcome structural and attitudinal barriers

This website presents the evidence to support the benefits of scaling up access to and availability of HIV testing in order to support the rationale for why HIV testing should be a priority.

You may also be interested in the resources available on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) website.

 

HIV testing and treatment guidelines and recommendations

Guidelines have been developed and published on a European level, which set out why and how HIV testing should take place across Europe. The guidelines also include data and evidence to support the need for HIV testing and treatment.

 

Evaluating local HIV testing initiatives

If you need guidance on how to assess HIV testing initiatives at a local level, you can refer to the ECDC guidelines.

Specifically on page 15, you will find details about how you can assess the success of local initiatives using the FACTS criteria:

  • Feasibility
  • Acceptability
  • Effectiveness and Cost-effectiveness
  • Target populations are reached
  • Sustainability

 

Toolkit 3 – Dossier of evidence: a summary of the evidence to support free, confidential and voluntary HIV testing

The dossier of evidence toolkit provides the rationale for free, confidential and voluntary HIV testing.

Examples of strategies and interventions to increase HIV testing are available in the Get involved section of the website.

 

Latest evidence on HIV testing and late HIV diagnosis

For the latest evidence on HIV testing and late HIV diagnosis visit HIV in Europe’s website: www.hiveurope.eu