HIV health care providers are ready to introduce pre‐exposure prophylaxis in Central and Eastern Europe and neighbouring countries: data from the Euroguidelines in Central and Eastern Europe (ECEE) Network Group

Abstract

PrEP is already used informally in some countries in the region. Physicians are keen to use PrEP if and when it is accessible. Obstacles towards implementing PrEP in those countries were mostly related to lack of national guidelines, drug registration and governmental strategy.

HIV care in times of the COVID-19 crisis — Where are we now in Central and Eastern Europe?

“…Therefore, we believe that the responses accurately reflect the situation in a given country, and thus provide a reliable sample. The group has reviewed many aspects of standards of HIV care in the past using the same method (Kowalska et al, 2018). Finally, survey studies are conducted in order to gather large amounts of information in a short period of time; however, they carry certain bias and should be interpreted with caution.…”

Where are we with pre‐exposure prophylaxis use in Central and Eastern Europe? Data from the Euroguidelines in Central and Eastern Europe (ECEE) Network Group

“…The ECEE Network Group was created in February 2016 as a result of ongoing collaboration among HIV professionals in the region. The aim of the group is to review standards of care for HIV infection and viral hepatitis in the region, draw conclusions based on them and develop recommendations to improve the HIV health care in the region [9]. Currently, the group includes 60 persons from 23 countries and has received a permanent European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS) endorsement.…”

“…The PrEP gap (the proportion of people not diagnosed with HIV infection who would be very likely to use PrEP if it were available) is largest in CEE [8]. As stated by the Euroguidelines in Central and Eastern Europe (ECEE) Network Group, although health care providers are ready to implement this strategy in daily practice, there are numerous political, technical and legal barriers which delay the implementation of PrEP in the region [9]. Therefore, we re-evaluated the situation in the region 1 year after the first survey.…”

Unified European support framework to sustain the HIV cascade of care for people living with HIV including in displaced populations of war-struck Ukraine

“…3 Major obstacles for prevention still exist, primarily of an administrative, financial, or legal nature. 14,15 Altogether, a clear mismatch exists between the needs of the populations at risk for HIV and the care available in Ukraine.…”