Copy
Logo

European Testing Week Newsletter

• 23 May 2023 •

Thank you for a great Spring European Testing Week!


The Spring ETW 2023 has ended, and we want to thank all of you who participated and supported the campaign to create awareness about testing and increase access to testing.


Thank you also for sharing your ETW activities on social media and tagging @EuroTestWeek in your posts.

Increased testing across Europe during Testing Week


All your efforts during European Testing Week (ETW) contribute greatly to increasing testing levels across Europe.


Since the first ETW in 2013, the COBATEST network has captured data from its members on testing levels in connection with ETW: the week before, during and after ETW. For November ETW last year, HIV testing went up by 259 % during ETW (compared to the week before), Syphilis testing by 218% and Hepatitis C testing by 353%.  

Also, the use of the European Test Finder indicates a lot of testing activity during ETW: more than four times the usual number of users visited the website to look for a testing location.

ETW webinar recordings


To launch the Spring ETW, a hybrid event was held in Athens and online on 15 May - the first day of Testing Week. The event was hosted by the Greek National Public Health Organization and the Greek NGO Positive Voice, and co-organized by European Testing Week, World Hepatitis Alliance, EACS (European AIDS Clinical Society) and EATG (European AIDS Treatment Group). ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control) provided an overview of the status on HIV and hepatitis in Europe, Ben Collins (co-chair of the ETW working group) talked about ETW and how the campaign has supported integrated testing in Europe, the COBATEST network demonstrated the impact of ETW on testing levels in Europe, EACS elaborated on the importance of early testing from a clinical perspective, World Hepatitis Alliance and EATG highlighted the gaps in testing for hepatitis and HIV, respectively, that need to be addressed, and finally two ETW participants (Positive Voice from Greece and GAT Portugal) provided examples of local ETW campaigns and results.

On May 17, the webinar “HIV, Hepatitis B and C and Sexually Transmitted Infections: why is testing important and what can be done to increase testing access and uptake?” was organized by ECDC and ETW. The webinar included presentations from a number of European experts and covered the following topics:

  • the importance of testing for HIV, hepatitis B and C, and STIs,  

  • who should get tested, when and how,

  • the need to reach those at risk with testing services,

  • the impact of COVID-19 and the consequences of the war in Ukraine on testing practices in EU/EEA countries, and 

  • how to increase testing access and uptake.


If you missed these events, you can watch the recordings of both via the ETW YouTube channel: Spring EuroTestWeek 2023 or via the ETW website: https://www.testingweek.eu/resources/webinars-videos/


Call for abstracts opens this Friday


The call for abstracts for HepHIV2023 Conference will open 26 May 2023 and close on the 26 July 2023. 


The late breaker submission will open 28 August 2023 and close 15 September 2023.


Read more about the conference and register here.

SAVE THE DATES!

The next ETW will take place from the 20th to 27th of November 2023.