The <scp>COBATEST</scp> network: monitoring and evaluation of <scp>HIV</scp> community‐based practices in Europe, 2014–2016

Fernàndez‐López, Laura; Reyes-Urueña, Juliana; Agustí, Cristina; Kustec, Tanja; Serdt, Mojca; Klavs, Irena; Casabona, Jordi

doi:10.1111/hiv.12592

Cited by 14 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…Additionally, both providers and clients prefer rapid tests over traditional tests [ 26 , 27 ]. Several studies have shown the efficacy of CBVCT strategies using HIV POCT to improve HIV testing uptake in populations at higher risk of exposure to HIV [ 6 , 7 , 9 ]. The DEVO Network has shown to be successful in providing testing to at-risk populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The longstanding experience of the DEVO Network and its results has been used as a basis for establishing the COBATEST Network, a European network of CBVCT services that share standardised data [ 8 , 14 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The DEVO network has been collecting systematically standardized data on activity, process and results since 1995. Since 2014, the DEVO network has formed part of the community-based testing (COBATEST) network, a European network of CBVCT services based on the DEVO network experience [ 8 , 14 ]. Since then, all except one of the CBVCT services use the COBATEST data collection tool (which is based on the DEVO data collection tool) and COBATEST web-based data entry tool through which data can be extracted and analysed in collaboration with the Centre for Epidemiological Studies on Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV/AIDS of Catalonia (CEEISCAT) as part of the Public Health Agency of Catalonia (ASPCAT).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…CBVCT services are considered an effective strategy for HIV testing, especially for key populations [ 6 , 7 ], and have expanded in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) since 2010 through a variety of service delivery models [ 8 ]. This strategy has been proven to increase the availability, accessibility and uptake of HIV testing in order to reduce the number of people who do not know their HIV status or who are diagnosed late [ 9 ], impacting the first 90 target set by UNAIDS [ 10 ]. In addition, this strategy increases the proportion of first-time testers, increases the proportion of participants who undertook follow-up CD4 tests after diagnosis, detects patients at an earlier stage of infection, increases the number of new HIV diagnoses, and potentially reduces the stigma and discrimination faced by key populations [ 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The contribution of HIV point-of-care tests in early HIV diagnosis: community-based HIV testing monitoring in Catalonia, 1995 to 2018

et al. 2020

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Background Community-based HIV testing services combined with the use of point-of-care tests (POCT) have the potential to improve early diagnosis through increasing availability, accessibility and uptake of HIV testing. Aim To describe community-based HIV testing activity in Catalonia, Spain, from 1995 to 2018, and to evaluate the impact of HIV POCT on the HIV continuum of care. Methods A community-based network of voluntary counselling and testing services in Catalonia, Spain has been collecting systematic data on activity, process and results since 1995. A descriptive analysis was performed on pooled data, describing the data in terms of people tested and reactive screening test results. Results Between 1995 and 2018, 125,876 HIV tests were performed (2.1% reactive). Since the introduction of HIV POCT in 2007, a large increase in the number of tests performed was observed, reaching 14,537 tests alone in 2018 (1.3% reactive). Men who have sex with men (MSM), as a proportion of all people tested, has increased greatly over time reaching 74.7% in 2018. The highest percentage of reactive tests was found in people who inject drugs followed by MSM. The contribution of community-based HIV testing to the overall total notified cases in the Catalonia HIV registry has gradually increased, reaching 37.9% in 2018, and 70% of all MSM cases. In 2018, the percentage of individuals with a reactive screening test who were linked to care was 89.0%. Conclusion Our study reinforces the important role that community-based HIV POCT has on the diagnosis of HIV in key populations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The contribution of HIV point-of-care tests in early HIV diagnosis: community-based HIV testing monitoring in Catalonia, 1995 to 2018

et al. 2020

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“…2,3 This network was created in the context of the HIV-COBATEST project (HIV Community-based testing practices in Europe 2010-2014), and by 2016 included 41 CBVCT services from 20 different European countries. 4 One of the main objectives of the network is the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of HIV testing activities performed in the participating CBVCT services. To do this, a standardised protocol, including a core set of indicators to monitor HIV testing activities, was defined and a standardised data collection form and a COBATEST web-based data entry system were created to collect and analyse the data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the quality of routine HIV testing data in the community setting ‘COBATEST Network’

et al. 2019

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The COBATEST Network of Community-Based Voluntary Counselling and STI/HIV Testing (CBVCT) services was created to standardise monitoring and evaluation of CBVCT services across Europe. This study aims to assess the quality of data collected in the network from 2015 to 2016. A survey was completed by 34 COBATEST Network members and an evaluation was performed of data quality based on three dimensions: transcription validity, completeness and consistency. The weakest area that we identified was data management processes. Only 8.8% of services had a written procedure to address data quality errors, 29.4% had procedures in place to resolve discrepancies and 35.3% performed quality control. We found that 41.2% of services utilised the COBATEST data, 11.8% made decisions based on the COBATEST data and 61.8% analysed their data in an independent manner for internal purposes. We conclude that while services have reliable data to support planning and management of services, improvements to quality procedures would ensure data are translated into evidence. This evidence would support further expansion of CBVCT services in the EU/EEA, including the integration of CBVCT-generated data into national surveillance systems.

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The Epidemiology of HIV Among Sex Workers Around the World: Implications for Research, Programmes, and Policy

Viswasam

Rivera²,

Comins

et al. 2021

Sex Work, Health, and Human Rights

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Globally, sex workers of all genders and identities continue to face disproportionately high burdens of HIV, demonstrating the need for programmes better tailoring services to their unmet needs. The reasons for this high burden are complex, intersecting across behavioural, social, and structural realities experienced by sex workers. Here, we build on systematic reviews of HIV among sex workers and case studies rooted in sex workers’ lived experience to describe: (1) the global HIV burden among sex workers; (2) the factors and determinants that influence the HIV burden; (3) intervention coverage and gaps to reduce HIV-related inequities faced by sex workers, over the past decade.Sex workers living with HIV have not benefited enough from significant increases in HIV treatment among the general population. Engagement in this HIV treatment cascade is hindered by structural factors including stigma, migration, policing, criminalisation, and violence, as well as substance use, which present increasingly concurrent risks with HIV among sex workers.Emerging biomedical HIV prevention innovations exist to support the health and human rights of sex workers and reduce onward transmission risk, but persistent data gaps remain, and should be addressed via community-driven implementation research. Epidemiologic research engaging sex workers who are cismen and transgender persons is similarly crucial. Community empowerment approaches have reduced the odds of HIV infection, highlighting the case for greater investments in structural interventions. These investments, combined with filling data gaps and national action towards sex work decriminalisation alongside legal protections, are critical to achieving reductions in sex workers’ HIV burden.

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The COBATEST network: monitoring and evaluation of HIV community‐based practices in Europe, 2014–2016

Abstract: These results prove the feasibility of collecting standardized data from CBVCT services in different countries across Europe and demonstrate the usefulness of such data.

Cited by 14 publications

References 10 publications

The contribution of HIV point-of-care tests in early HIV diagnosis: community-based HIV testing monitoring in Catalonia, 1995 to 2018

The contribution of HIV point-of-care tests in early HIV diagnosis: community-based HIV testing monitoring in Catalonia, 1995 to 2018

Assessing the quality of routine HIV testing data in the community setting ‘COBATEST Network’

The Epidemiology of HIV Among Sex Workers Around the World: Implications for Research, Programmes, and Policy

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