In Lviv, the forum of providers of primary medical care services “HIV testing in the practice of family medicine” is ongoing. This is a public dialogue on the introduction of a human-centered approach to the provision of HIV, viral hepatitis B and C and syphilis testing services at the level of primary care in the Second Medical Association of Lviv, in partnership with the USA Anti-AIDS Foundation in Ukraine.
At the forum, the results of a study on gaps in HIV testing, which lead to late diagnosis, were presented. Doctors discussed the experience of introducing a person-centered approach to HIV testing at the level of primary health care institutions.
“Testing is not only a matter of primary medical care, but also of specialized care. The stigma of how a doctor should tell a patient needs to be overcome. Testing should become routine, like a general blood test, and mandatory. And if the patient does not want to – let him write a refusal. Our medical association is generating this process,” said Andrii Myskiv, general director of the Second Medical Association of Lviv.
“I am very glad that such a forum is taking place in Lviv. For the first time, family doctors and doctors of other specialties have the opportunity to discuss painful issues of testing for HIV infection among colleagues from different areas of care. Discuss what worries you in routine work with family medicine colleagues. This is a great joy for me, because the interaction of “AntiAIDS-Ukraine” with the family doctors of the city and the provision of rapid tests for HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis over the past 7 months gave an impetus to both the increase in testing and the increase in the detection of HIV patients – infection. In the first quarter of 2023, 7,370 people without donors and pregnant women were tested and 53 were found to be positive. More than in the whole year of 2022 – 52 people have been detected”, – shares the impressions of Olena Pavlyshyn, head of the Center for Integrated Medical and Social Services of the Second Medical Association of Lviv, infectious disease doctor.
We will remind you that in 2022, the USA Anti-AIDS Foundation in Ukraine, in partnership with the Second Medical Association of Lviv, started a program to introduce a people-oriented approach to HIV testing, at the initiative of a medical worker using rapid tests. In the period from October 2022 to March 2023, more than 2,600 people were tested for HIV within the framework of the specified program, and HIV antibodies were detected in more than 30 people. In 2023, with the support of the Foundation, it is planned to additionally cover more than 5 thousand people with testing services for HIV, viral hepatitis B and C, and syphilis.