Two more checkpoints in Pilsen and Liberec will provide increased HIV prevention in the Czech Republic
One of the main activities of the Czech AIDS Aid Society is testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. How many checkpoints do you test in today?
We currently have a total of 9 fixed checkpoints in the Czech Republic and one in Slovakia, in Bratislava. In the Czech Republic, you can come and get tested in Prague, in our House of Light, as well as in Ústí nad Labem, Teplice, České Budějovice, Hradec Králové, Ústí nad Orlicí, Brno, Olomouc, Ostrava. And, of course, those interested can also get tested in our mobile checkpoints, i.e. ambulances, which travel all over the country.
Are you planning to expand the network of test points in the near future? 9 centres is certainly not too few, but there are still enough large cities where testing would probably make sense.
You are right that there are other cities and locations in the country that would deserve a test center. That is why we want to open two more checkpoints in Pilsen and Liberec during the summer.
In Pilsen, we should open a chckpoint in cooperation with the Clinic of Infectious Diseases and Travel Medicine at the University Hospital in Pilsen. And in Liberec we will open a new HIV centre, which will also include our testing centre. Both centres will be opened with the support of the Czech branch of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
What is driving you to open additional testing sites and what do you see as their biggest benefit?
Statistics from the National Institute of Health show that the number of HIV cases in the Czech Republic has unfortunately not been decreasing significantly in recent years, but has been stagnating, which is not good news. That is why I think that the more centres there are where people can come to get tested anonymously and for free, the better. You could say that lately it has been a bit forgotten that HIV still exists. This is not just because of the epidemic of covid, which took us all by surprise. It's terribly important to find out early that you are HIV+ and start treatment immediately. The sooner you start treatment, the more likely you are to live a perfectly normal life. And it will also prevent you from unintentionally transmitting HIV to your partner. There may not yet be a cure for HIV, but if we test sufficiently and treat early and correctly, we could eradicate HIV in the foreseeable future with the help of currently available drugs.
Other reasons why it makes sense to open new checkpoints include education, prevention counselling and information on pre-exposure prophylaxis, known as PrEP. A wider network of testing sites will also give clients more choice of where to get tested and a greater chance of coming forward for testing.
Who are the staff at these centres? And how is the testing done?
Our centres are staffed by doctors who normally work in, for example, infectious diseases wards in hospitals or HIV centres, and also by health professionals, by which I really mean nurses and fraternity nurses, psychologists and also trained prevention workers.
As I mentioned, testing in our checkpoints is anonymous and free. In the centres, we test from venous blood, which is sent to the National Reference Laboratory for testing. You will get the result in 2 to 5 days, depending on the region, if the tests are uncomplicated. If someone is in a hurry for results, we can also test them with a rapid test, which we use mainly for testing in ambulances or in the field. If the test is reactive, i.e. shows that the client has antibodies to HIV, then we follow up with a venous blood test, which we send to the laboratory for testing.
Do you have any idea when the centres in Pilsen and Liberec will open?
We would like to open them during this summer. And I believe we will be able to do it, because we started working on their preparation last year. Unfortunately, due to the covid-19 pandemic and the associated workload of infectious diseases clinics, we do not have specific dates yet.
Together with his team, Jiří Pavlát is trying to improve HIV prevention in the Czech RepublicPhoto: Foto: se souhlasem Jiřího Pavláta
Who all supports the opening of the testing centres?
The support of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic plays a crucial role. Its subsidy from the National Programme for the Fight against HIV should be annual and will cover almost 70% of the costs of operating the branches in Liberec and Plzeň. Support from GSK has also been pledged. I would like to thank everyone for this help. In the future, we hope for further support, not only from individual and corporate donors from these regions, but also from municipalities and regional authorities.
Who comes to you most often for testing?
The most common age group is men between 20 and 30 years old, especially the group of men who have sex with men. This is not unusual, because they are at higher risk of infection, and our prevention activities also target them. But also women and couples of young people who are in a new relationship and want to make sure that they are both safe. Which is a huge shift from earlier times, and it's definitely a good thing.
What about the interest in testing? Is interest growing among younger people, for example?
We've compared data over the last 5 years and the mix of clients coming in for testing remains the same by age. As I mentioned before, it's young people between the ages of 20 and 30.
CSAP also provides HIV/AIDS education among young people. How does this awareness-raising take place, do you cooperate with the Ministry of Education or other institutions? And does the awareness-raising work?
We have been working on awareness raising in schools among primary and secondary school students for more than 22 years. Before covid, schools could book sessions with our experts, usually an HIV+ preventionist and a doctor or psychologist. When covid-19 came along, we also moved online, so the sessions are now mostly online. The discussions are for pupils and students aged 14 and above, so for primary school pupils in grades 8 and 9 and secondary school students. Of course, their teachers and professors can also participate. At the beginning, pupils will take a test to test their knowledge about HIV. A similar test is prepared at the end of the meeting so that teachers can see what new things the pupils have learned and what they need to focus on in their teaching. The sessions, which are free until the end of the calendar year 2022, can be booked on our website https://www.cervenastuzka.cz/besedy/.
You have also asked who supports our outreach work. It is the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic from the National Programme for the Fight against HIV, the Municipality of Prague and the O2 Foundation.
