Abstract
We present preliminary results of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) impact assessment on testing for HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections in the WHO European Region. We analyse 98 responses from secondary care (n = 36), community testing sites (n = 52) and national level (n = 10). Compared to pre-COVID-19, 95% of respondents report decreased testing volumes during March–May and 58% during June–August 2020. Reasons for decreases and mitigation measures were analysed.
Highlights
We present preliminary results of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) impact assessment on testing for HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region
Diagnosis and linkage to care for these infections are key challenges in the WHO European Region, where an estimated one in five people living with HIV do not know their infection status [9], and half are diagnosed at a late stage [9,10,11,12]
This continued, to a lesser degree, between June and August 2020, when measures were less strict in most countries. These findings are indicating an important decline in testing volumes; it should be kept in mind that they represent broad categories of reported change and are based on best estimates rather than accurate data for some respondents. For chronic infections such as HIV and viral hepatitis, delayed diagnosis and treatment may result in further long-term consequences including sequelae for individual patients [16,17], and even a stalling of progresses achieved so far in controlling these infections in the WHO European Region
Summary
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on testing services for HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections in the WHO European Region, March to August 2020. We present preliminary results of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) impact assessment on testing for HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections in the WHO European Region. As framed in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [5] and recent European and global guidance [6,7,8], it is critical to approach testing for HIV, hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), namely chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhoea, in an integrated and synergistic manner. HBV: hepatitis B virus; HCV: hepatitis C virus; STI: sexually transmitted infections; WHO: World Health Organization. a Chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhoea
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