Author Archives: ceeiscat

The 2^nd semi-annual COBATEST Steering Committee meeting for 2024 was held in Barcelona, Spain, from December 16th to 18th. During this meeting, the Committee bid farewell to four members whose three-year terms had come to an end: Lela Cosmaro (Lila Milano, Italy), Trésors Kouadio (Plateforme, Belgium), Christo Krasidis (Aids Solidarity, Cyprus), and Marek Trčka (AIDS Pomoc, Czech Republic).

Discussions focused on planning the 2025 annual COBATEST members’ meeting, exploring potential funding opportunities, and reviewing upcoming activities to further support the network’s members.

The Harm Reduction Conference took place from December 2nd to 4th, 2024, in Warsaw, Poland. Two abstracts were presented by the COBATEST Network at the meeting.

Dr. Laura Fernández-López participated in the BOOST project discussion table, presenting on enhancing standardized HIV/VH testing data collection for community-based harm reduction services through the adaptation of the COBATEST Network’s data collection tool. She provided an overview of how the COBATEST online tool functions and highlighted the key changes made to the data collection questionnaire, particularly the expanded sections focusing on harm reduction.

Dr.Megi Gogishvili presented a poster on a HIV/STI testing patterns and associated behavioral factors among persons who inject drugs in Europe and Central Asia among COBATEST network members from 2014 to 2023.

In total, 123893 tests have been done during the study period, out of which 3.5% (n=4405) were among PWIDs. Tests done among PWIDs varied from 113 to 149 tests through-out the years, besides 2022 (n=2446; 55.5% of the total) and 2023 (n=836, 19% of the total). Of all tested PWIDs, 0.82% (n=36) had HIV-diagnoses, 0.91% (n=40) had Syphilis diagnoses and 6.15% (n=271) had HCV diagnoses. Of all testers, 89.9% (n=3962) were men, and 77.8% (n=28) of HIV-diagnoses were among this group. Sixty-eight percent (n=3031) of tested PWIDs were 25-44 year-old, and had highest prevalence of HIV-diagnoses (69.4.8%; n=25) compared to all age-groups.

Of all tested PWIDs, 9.24% (n=407) were men who have sex with men (MSM) and 7.11% (n=313) were sex workers. Highest percentage of PWIDs were migrants (11.9%; n=525). Compared to other key-groups within PWIDs, migrants had the highest prevalence of HIV-diagnoses (3.55%, n=18/36; p-value <0.001) out of which 55.5% (n=10) were from outside of EU (p-value <0.001).

Of all PWIDs, 88.7% (n=3909) practiced condomless sex, with 0.8% (n=34) HIV-diagnoses (94.4% of all positive diagnoses). This practice varied from 68% (n=85) to 94.5% (n=790) through-out the years. Total of 1031 (23.4%) testers shared needles, out of which 1.6% (n=17) had HIV-diagnoses (47.2% of all positive diagnoses). This practice varied from 15.9% (n=18) to 32.2% (n=39) through-out the years.

Please find the poster here.

COBATEST was invited to participate and was actively present at the 6th European Aids Clinical Society (EACS) Standard of Care Meeting for HIV and Co-infections in Europe, held in Athens, Greece, on October 16-17, 2024.  Under the theme “Standard care for all: Embracing those left behind”, the meeting was jointly hosted by Greece and Türkiye, drawing attention to the strategic role of a region that connects Western, Central, and Eastern Europe.

This closed gathering brought together about one hundred participants, including HIV specialists, community representatives, and institutional stakeholders from the WHO European Region. Over one and a half days, the agenda combined plenary sessions with exchanges of information on Europe’s situation at the time. The event served as a key moment to review both achievements and remaining gaps in providing care for people living with HIV across the region.

The Fast Track Cities conference took place from October 13th to 15th, 2024 in Paris, France.

Dr. Laura Fernàndez-López presented a poster on enhancing standardised HIV/STI/VH testing data collection for Community-Based Testing Services.

The abstract described the networks evaluation since 2010. Lessons learned from COBATEST’s history was also shared as part of the Poster. Specifically, highlighting that the COBATEST network has demonstrated that standardized data collection from CBVCT services is feasible and reliable across various European countries. The data supports quality service planning and management, providing evidence for the expansion of CBVCT services within the EU/EEA. The standardization of information has strengthened the case for integrating community-based models into HIV strategic investments. Thus to maximize the value of standardized data collection, it is crucial to increase the representativeness of the data across different countries and key populations. This will enhance the robustness of the data and support the broader integration of CBVCT services into national and international HIV response strategies.

Please find full poster here.

Dr. Miguel Alarcón Gutiérrez presented an online poster at the HIVR4P Conference, 2024, in Lima, Peru, on the population accessing community-led HIV testing centers and the factors associated with repeat testing, based on data from the COBATEST Network spanning 2018 to 2021. In total, 80,684 individuals were included from 59 centres in 12 different countries. Men represented 66.0% (n=53,263), women 32,0% (n=25,844) and transgender people 1,9% (n=1,532). The main age category was 25-34 years old with 55.7% (n=44,909), 31.5% (n=25,390) were foreign-born, and 13.8% (n=11,122) repeated testing in the same centre at least once. GBMSM was reported in 41.3% (n=33,362), sex work in 9,6% (n=7,713) and IDU in 1,2% (n=945). Factors associated with testing repetition after multivariate analysis were being a man (aOR=1.10; CI:1.02-1.18), a transgender person (aOR=1.95; CI:1.68-2.25), being more than 25 years old (aOR=1.31; CI:1.25-1.38), being migrant (aOR=0.81; CI:0.76-0.85), GBMSM (aOR=2.43; CI:2.28-2.59), sex worker (aOR=1.68; CI:1.56-1.82), IDU (aOR=1.29; CI:1.05-1.58), using a condom in the last sexual intercourse (aOR=1.20; CI:1.14-1.25), and having any STI during the last 12 months (aOR=1.43; CI:1.33-1.54).

Please find the poster here.

The VII Annual Meeting of the COBATEST NETWORK took place on January 25th and 26th at Ca l’Alier in Barcelona, bringing together more than 50 professionals from 23 countries across Europe and Central Asia. Representatives of the network’s member centres shared their experiences and discussed HIV/STI/HV testing and monitoring at community centres.

Representatives of the network’s coordinating organizations, Dr. Jordi Casabona from IGPT, CEEISCAT (Spain) and Christos Krasidis from Aids Action Europe (Germany) opened the meeting by welcoming all the participants. The members of the COBATEST Steering Committee were then introduced, along with the new members elected in the 2023 elections: Nino Tsereteli from the Center for Information and Counseling on Reproductive Health TANADGOMA (Georgia); and Mihai Lixandru from the Romanian Anti-AIDS Association (ARAS). An inspiring video by Laurel Sprague, Head of Community and Young Engagement at UNAIDS, was played, highlighting the importance of community testing in the fight against HIV/STI.

Dr Jordi Casabona from CEEISCAT

Christos Krasidis from AIDS Action Europe

The network members presented research studies and reports on testing and prevention projects implemented in their respective countries. Arman Sahakyan and Sergey Grabielyan from the NGO New Generation Humanitarian (a new member from Armenia) presented on the HIV and STI prevention and treatment program for men who have sex with men, sex workers, and transgender individuals in Armenia. Maka Gogia from the Georgian Harm Reduction Network presented the “Lite-BBS” pilot program, which aims to increase the acceptance of STI/HIV tests and their linkage to the country’s prevention program. Meanwhile, Stefania Florentina Mihale from the Baylor Black Sea Foundation (Romania) shared the findings of a pilot study on HIV self-tests in Romania, which has been highly successful among young generation.

Dr. Megi Gogishvili from CEEISCAT summarized the activities implemented by COBATEST during 2023 and highlighted important findings from the 2022 data collected by COBATEST members. In 2022, 136,626 people were tested by 70 member centers, with over half of them (64.9%) being CIS men and 0.9% being transgender individuals. Forty percent of the tested individuals were men who have sex with men, and 25% of the total were under 25 years old. It is also notable that 1% of tested persons had reactive test results.

Open discussion group

A flexible format was adapted for the last day of the meeting, with discussion tables organized by the participants themselves. Specifically each discussing topic was proposed during a brainstorming session among all participants on the first day of the meeting, and then led by the person who proposed it. Some of the issues addressed included Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) aand access to healthcare barriers faced by migrants, injectable antiretroviral therapies (ARTs), self-tests, testing minors, the difficulties with establishing Checkpoints, the integration of new services, and the effective use of online resources. At the end of the meeting, each discussion group shared their conclusions with all other participants in a common session, followed by a brief closing led by Dr. Laura Fernàndez-López from CEEISCAT (Spain) and Lella Cosmaro from the LILA Milano association (Italy), marking the end of the meeting.

Participants sharing the conclusions of their discussion groups

The COBATEST Network not only drives standardized data collection and analysis to inform future interventions but also promotes information exchange and sharing best-practices among its members. Additionally, it facilities formation of international collaborations among CBVCTs. Currently, the network comprises 118 centres from 29 European countries and 2 from Central Asia. These centres offer their services outside conventional health facilities, often through field interventions, which facilitates access to testing and counselling for hard-to-reach vulnerable population groups.

Minutes and presentations are listed below:

Minutes:

• English
• Russian

Presentations:

New Generation Humanitarian NGO, Armenia

• HIV prevention projects
• HIV Armenian Cascade Among MSM and Trans* Woman

Georgian Harm Reduction Network, Georgia 

• Lite-BBS pilot program

Baylor Black Sea Foundation, Romania

• HIV- Self Testing Project

CEEISCAT, Spain

• COBATEST activities in 2023 & Data 2022

COBATEST Netork is pleased to anounce some important updates regarding the official documents that will be in use from January 1 onwards.

1. New Data Collection Form and Instructions:

 We are pleased to share with you the updated data collection form along with comprehensive instructions for its completion. 

2. Data Collection Forms for PrEP/Chemsex Modules and Other STIs:

 In addition to the general data collection form, we have included the specific updated forms for PrEP/Chemsex modules and other sexually transmitted infections, for those who collect this data.

3. Instructions and Aggregated Data Excel:

 For those submitting aggregated data, detailed instructions and an Excel sheet for aggregated data reporting have been updated.

4. Instructions and Disaggregated Data Excel:

 Likewise, for those submitting disaggregated data, please find updated instructions and the corresponding Excel sheet for your reporting.

All updated documents can be found in here.

The XLI Spanish Epidemiology Society (SEE) meeting took place from September 5th to 8th, 2023 in Porto, Portugal. Two abstracts were presented by COBATEST network at the meeting. 

Dr. Megi Gogishvili presented an abstract on the impact of COVID-19 on HIV-testing among community centers in Catalonia. 

Presentation consisted of time series analysis of the testing trends from 2018 to 2020. Four periods were analysed: pre-lockdown (PRE), lockdown (LD), de-escalation (DE), and new normality (NN). In total, 18,265 tests were reported. Males comprised 56.1% of testers in PRE, 71.4% in LD and 49.5% in NN, while largest proportion of females were found in DE (54.1%). During PRE 10,034 tests were performed, during LD 82 (84.4% less than expected), 211 during DE (62.5% less), and 2305 in NN, which is 12.5% less than predicted by the model according to the previous trends. Males had the highest difference in expected to observed tests (LD = 86.3%, DE = 73.9% and NN = 24.3% less than expected). Females tested 81.1% (LD) and 37.5% (DE) less than expected and 2.9% more than expected during NN. Transgenders tested 86.7% less than expected in LD, 92.9% in DE, and 25.2% in NN. Meno who have sex with men (MSM) tested 87.9% less than expected during LD, 84.8% during DE, and 34.5% during NN. Sex workers (SWs) tested 86.5%, 83.1%, and 33.8% less than expected. People who inject drugs (PWIDs) tested 62.5%, 46.2%, and 33.3% less than expected. Migrants tested 84.9%, 51.1% less than expected and 10.4% more during NN. Please find full presentation online.

Dr. Miguel Alarcón Gutiérrez presented an abstract based on analysis of quantitative data collected by COBATEST network members from 2013 to 2022 concentrating on transgender individuals and men who have sex with men (MSM).

A presentation consisted of analysis of HIV and other STI associated factors among MSM and transgender individuals in 60 European community-led testing centers from COBATEST network. Out of 81,776 testers were GBMSM and 1,603 were transgender individuals. Total reactive testing prevalence among GBMSM population was 5.89% (CI: 5.64-6.14), and 12.48% (CI: 10.90-14.19) among transgender individuals. Multivariate analysis in GBMSM showed that factors associated with reactive testing were: age (aOR=1.01; CI: 1.00-1.01), being a migrant from outside of European Union (EU) (aOR=1.77; CI: 1.56-2.00), have been previously tested for HIV (aOR=1.37; CI: 1.19-1.59), having any risk exposure as motivation for testing (aOR=1.64; CI: 1.46-1.85), condomless penetration during last sexual intercourse (aOR =1.34; CI: 1.21-1.49), previous STIs (aOR=2.04; CI: 1.78-2.33), and receiving money or drugs for sex during last 12 months (aOR=1.61; CI: 1.35-1.93). In transgender population, factors associated with reactive testing were being a migrant from outside of the EU (aOR=2.90; CI: 1.55-5.42), having any risk exposure as motivation for testing (aOR=1.95; CI: 1.39-2.74), previous STIs (aOR=1.60; CI: 1.07-2.39), and receiving money or drugs for sex during last 12 months (aOR=2.04; CI: 1.10-3.77). Please find full presentation online. 

The biannual meeting of Steering Committee of the COBATEST Network was held on June 8^th and 9^th, 2023 in Berlin, Germany, on the campus of AIDS Action Europe. Great and productive discussions took place on updating data collection form, future planning for the network, and brainstorming for next COBATEST members annual meeting.