Hepatitis added to HIV testing initiative

Wednesday July 29th, 2015

The organisers of European HIV Testing Week have announced a change of name, to "European HIV-Hepatitis Testing Week".

This move reflects the inclusion of viral hepatitis testing, from 2015 onwards.

The announcement was made yesterday, 28 July, this year's World Hepatitis Day. It aims to encourage hepatitis community groups across Europe to sign up to participate in the 2015 testing week, taking place from 20-27 November.

'HIV in Europe', the group that oversees European HIV-Hepatitis Testing Week, also urges communities to unite in efforts towards access to treatment, in order to prevent further transmission. Estimates suggest that about 13.3 million people living in Europe have hepatitis B, and about 15 million people have hepatitis C.

"HIV and viral hepatitis co-infection is a huge problem across Europe, we have expanded the scope of testing week to include viral hepatitis following requests from community organisations," says Professor Jurgen Rockstroh of HIV in Europe. "These viruses are transmitted in similar ways and affect similar groups of people so it makes clinical sense to get tested for both HIV and hepatitis at the same time. We hope that the community makes the 2015 testing week as successful as previous years."

Last year, 709 organisations from 49 of 53 countries in the WHO European Region participated in European HIV Testing Week. During the week, testing rates doubled in most areas.

Brian West of HIV in Europe added: "We aim to communicate the benefits of testing, because today people living with HIV can live into their older-years with early treatment, and those with hepatitis C can be cured. Early treatment also helps to prevent further transmissions to others."

Tags: Europe | Flu & Viruses | Traveller Health

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