News

It is with sadness that we have learnt about the war in Ukraine. We would like to extend our support to all our dear friends and colleagues and everyone involved, not least all the people living with HIV and their carers.

At this difficult time, we would urge that all members of EACS, as well as healthcare professionals, healthcare commissioners, the pharmaceutical industry and non-governmental organisations in Ukraine and across Europe to work together to ensure that we can provide all possible support for people living with HIV and their families to ensure:

1. Free and easy access to medical care, psychological support and medicines including antiretrovirals for the treatment initiation, continuation as well as pre-and post-exposure prophylaxis
2. Free medical insurance for migrant populations from affected areas
3. Easily available access for infection prophylaxis and vaccines for vaccine-preventable illnesses, including COVID-19 vaccines
4. Full support for assistance to, and the safety of healthcare professionals providing medical assistance in affected areas

We would strongly encourage the preparation of national plans to support people living with HIV migrating from affected areas and emphasise the need for their rapid implementation.

EACS will stand and work together with our members and partners at this difficult time.

Registrations are open for the interactive training course ‘PentaTr@ining 2022: HIV & other Congenital Infections‘.

The course is divided into two parts: in-depth online distance learning run over 3 months, later followed by a 3-day face-to-face workshop. The upgraded online course boasts a highly engaging design and user-friendly interface, purposely designed to kindle engagement and encourage intercommunication among the participants and faculty team. The innovative online programme comprises 6 comprehensive and thought-provoking training modules, a variety of real life clinical cases for discussion, live webinars and dedicated tutoring from our expert trainers.

Learn more! 

The applications for the EACS HIV Summer School are now open! The course will take place from 6-9 September 2022 in Bordeaux, France.

This 4-day residential course is designed for clinicians involved in HIV management who wish to deepen their knowledge about all aspects of HIV medicine and research methodology. The course is delivered by an experienced faculty of key opinion leaders in the fields of HIV clinical care and research.

A moderate fee of EUR 300 is charged which will cover registration and accommodation (payment is due on confirmation of a place in the course). A limited number of scholarships are available to applicants from low-income countries. A maximum of 70 participants will be accepted.

Applications are open until 18 April 2022.

Click here for more information and apply today!

The deadline for the 2021 EuroTEST assessment of the impact of Covid 19 on testing services for HIV, HBV, HCV, STIs in the WHO European Region has been extended to 13 March. 

The survey aims to understand the continued impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on testing services for HIV, viral hepatitis and STIs in the WHO European Region. If you provide testing for one of these infections at the laboratory, clinical or community level, please consider responding to the survey.

Access the survey here: https://redcap.link/COVID-19_impact_2021

More info: https://www.eurotest.org/Projects-Collaborations/COVID-19-impact-assessment-on-testing

The survey is available in English and Russian.

22 – 24 February 2022

The 12th World Congress of the World Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (WSPID) will be held online from 22-24 February 2022 to address the most important issues in infectious diseases that affect children and their families. WSPID, the only global society that is devoted entirely to paediatric diseases in children, invites you to hear the latest developments relevant to your patients, to interact with world experts in all aspects of paediatric infectious diseases, to meet colleagues from all over the world and to network for new opportunities and collaborations to address the immense burden of infectious diseases.

Learn more at https://wspid2022.com/

23-26 April 2022

EACS will co-organise a session at the 32nd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), taking place in Lisbon, Portugal from 23-26 April 2022.

Updates on HIV treatment and prevention

- Progress toward reaching HIV prevention and treatment targets in Europe

- HIV treatment: which are the drugs?

- HIV and the cure: what is new in the HIV vaccine research?

- Patients’ perspectives on PrEP

More information

EACS is saddened about the sudden passing of David Stuart. He was a prominent much respected and loved activist in the UK; but his reach was across Europe and globally. He will be greatly missed. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.

Dear EACS Members

It has been forty years since the first cases of AIDS were described in the USA. We lost many good people, but we have come a long way since then; efficient testing and prevention, effective, well-tolerated, easy-to-use and widely available anti-retroviral therapy and prevention. However, things have not been as straightforward. The last two years have been dominated by another pandemic; COVID-19. Many of us have lost friends, family, loved-ones and colleagues to yet another dreadful viral infection. Not only has this set us back from achieving our targets for ending AIDS as a major threat but has also highlighted many of the inequalities that exist in health and social care globally, regionally and nationally.

Now, more than ever is the time to tackle inequalities and get the global response to both these pandemics on track. It is time to apply lessons learned.

As the recent UNAIDS 2021 report; “Confronting Inequalities: Lessons for pandemic responses from 40 years of AIDS” shows that, in 2020, we had 680 000 AIDS-related deaths and 1.5 million new infections. There were 37.7 million people living with HIV, of who 10.2 million were not on treatment. There are inequalities at many levels; testing and prevention services, ART provision, harm-reduction services, criminalisation and the failure to address the needs of key populations. Moreover, lack of joined-up physical and wholistic psycho-social care for people living with HIV and stigma are widespread.

Despite the hardships of COVID-19, our mission at EACS remains steadfast. We will continue to work with our members, clinical and academic organisations, community organisations, governments, NGOs and the pharmaceutical industry to advance knowledge, promote and develop good practice, value advances in scientific technologies and above all, dispel stigma and challenge inequalities.

The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt which was displayed at the recent European AIDS Conference in London, reminds us of the need to always remember and cherish the ones that we have lost and remember the lessons for our future.

As 2021 draws to a close, and we commemorate World AIDS Day, let’s cross boundaries and work together to end inequalities.

We need each other. No one forgotten, none left behind. This concerns us all.

Please remain active members of our EACS Society and stay safe.

Sanjay Bhagani, President, EACS
Esteban Martinez, President-elect, EACS