Book 2

EU HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis and Tuberculosis Civil Society Forum - September 2020

Executive summary:

This internal CSF meeting was attended by CSF members only in order to establish the election procedure for a new Coordination Team and get the working groups to work.

Policy Updates

The meeting started with policy updates. An overview of the next EU drug agenda and the EU4Health programme can be found here, including an overview of civil society concerns regarding the drug agenda, the lesser consideration of communicable diseases in the EU4Health programme as well as overview about advocacy opportunities.

UNAIDS and the Global Fund are developing new strategic frameworks. There is a CSF working group discussing civil society involvement after this plenary session.

The working group on Dublin Monitoring addresses in particular the involvement of civil society in the reporting and differences between countries. Main questions to be answered are listed here.

Diagnosis of HIV, viral hepatitis and STI

Here you can find an overview of results from the spring testing week and the announcement of the European Testing Week that will be conducted from Nov 20 – 27, 2020. Moreover, the presentation contains information regarding the soon to be launched survey to assess the impact of COVID-19 on HIV, viral hepatitis and STI testing in the WHO European Region.

Elimination of hepatitis C

A very strong statement from the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) on elimination of hepatitis C can be found here. The statement not only addresses the roll-out of treatment with DAA for people who use drugs but also the decriminalisation of drug use. Coming from a medical association, the CSF expresses hope that the statement will have impact on decision making at country level.

Coordination team election procedure

Information about the coordination team work as well as a road map was presented with regard to the CSF Coordination Team elections. ILGA Europe and Action Against AIDS volunteered to function as observers of the elections.

Working group session

Three working groups started their work after the plenary session in separate meetings on:

  • On EU4Health and drug strategy
  • Dublin Monitoring
  • Global Fund and UNAIDS strategies