When is the European HIV testing week happening?
Friday 22 to Friday 29 November 2013. This is the week leading up to World AIDS Day on 1 December 2013.
What does the European HIV testing week aim to achieve?
The ultimate goal of the European HIV testing week is to make more people aware of their HIV status and reduce late diagnosis by communicating the benefits of HIV testing. The focus for this first testing week is Talk HIV. Test HIV. It has been introduced to support dialogue between all partners in order to encourage at risk individuals to ask for an HIV test and for more HIV tests to be offered to those at risk.
This is to:
- Encourage people who could have been at risk of HIV to get a test
- Encourage healthcare professionals to offer an HIV test as part of routine care in specific settings and conditions (in line with present European guidelines)
- Support and unite community organisations to scale-up HIV testing and share lessons learned between countries
- Make more policy makers aware of the socioeconomic benefits of HIV testing initiatives and how to evaluate HIV testing practices
Why is a European HIV testing week needed?
Today at least one in three of the 2.3 million people living with HIV in Europe are unaware that they are HIV positive. 50% of those who are HIV positive are diagnosed late – which delays access to treatment. This means that many people are not being tested prior to symptoms emerging. This could be because there are barriers to requesting an HIV test or because healthcare professionals are not offering tests to these individuals. This is despite the benefits of early HIV diagnosis being well-documented.
These statistics suggest that we need to be doing more to encourage individuals who are unknowingly living with HIV to take an HIV test and to better target HIV testing at people who could have been at risk. HIV testing is the key to HIV and AIDS prevention.
www.aids.at/european-hiv-testing-week
www.Facebook.com/Testwoche2013
www.hivtestingweek.eu
Text: hivtestingweek, Photos: aids hilfe wien
