Quality, acceptability and usability of self-sampling kits used by non-healthcare professionals for STI diagnosis in Spain: a single-blind study.

Objectives: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have markedly increased over the last decade in Spain, calling for prevention and control innovative approaches. While there is evidence indicating the effectiveness of self-sampling for STI diagnosis, no kits for this purpose have been authorised in Spain.

Methods: A prospective single-blind cross-sectional study carried out between November and December 2022 in an STI clinic in Madrid, Spain, to determine the validity, feasibility and acceptability of self-sampling kits used by non-healthcare professionals from vagina, pharynx, rectum and urethra to diagnose (CT) and (NG).

The HepHIV 2023 Madrid conference: A call to action for political leadership in reaching the sustainable development goals on earlier testing and linkage to care for HIV, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections.

Introduction And Objectives: The HepHIV 2023 Conference, held in Madrid in November 2023, highlighted how Europe is not on track to meet the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals and Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) targets. This article presents the outcomes of the conference, which focus on ways to improve testing and linkage to care for HIV, viral hepatitis, and other sexually transmitted infections. HIV-related stigma and discrimination, a major barrier to progress, was a key concept of the conference and on the agenda of the Spanish Presidency of the European Union.

[HIV and human rights: political action to achieve ZERO stigma].

According to Sustainable Development Goals 10.2 and 10.3, it is imperative to promote the elimination of discriminatory laws, as well as implement policies and practices for the inclusion of vulnerable social groups on the social, economic and political fronts.

Drug Repurposing and Observational Studies: The Case of Antivirals for the Treatment of COVID-19.

Remdesivir and molnupiravir were the only 2 repurposed antivirals that were approved for emergency use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both drugs received their emergency use authorization on the basis of a single industry-funded phase 3 trial, which was launched after evidence of in vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2. In contrast, for tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), little in vitro evidence was generated, no randomized trials for early treatment were done, and the drug was not considered for authorization.

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine and severity of coronavirus disease 2019 in people with HIV infection.

Background: Effective, safe, and affordable antivirals are needed for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Several lines of research suggest that tenofovir may be effective against COVID-19, but no large-scale human studies with appropriate adjustment for comorbidities have been conducted.

Methods: We studied HIV-positive individuals on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 2020 at 69 HIV clinics in Spain.

Intersectionality of stigmas and health-related quality of life in people ageing with HIV in China, Europe, and Latin America.

People ageing with HIV face crucial challenges that can compromise their long-term health, one of which is stigma. HIV-related stigma can interact with other coexistent inequities to create a unique oppression system that results in traumatic experiences. This intersectionality of stigmas represents a new inequality that is greater than the sum of the original component inequalities.

Daily tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine and hydroxychloroquine for pre-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19: a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial in healthcare workers.

Objectives: To assess the effect of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) as pre-exposure prophylaxis on COVID-19 risk.

Methods: EPICOS is a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial conducted in Spain, Bolivia, and Venezuela. Healthcare workers with negative SARS-CoV-2 IgM/IgG test were randomly assigned to the following: daily TDF/FTC plus HCQ for 12 weeks, TDF/FTC plus HCQ placebo, HCQ plus TDF/FTC placebo, and TDF/FTC placebo plus HCQ placebo.

SARS-CoV-2 infection and coronavirus disease 2019 severity in persons with HIV on antiretroviral treatment.

The relative susceptibility of people with HIV (PWH) to Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is debated. Numerous studies have been published with apparently contradictory findings, but comparisons are difficult because they have been conducted in populations with different characteristics (e.g.

The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on people with HIV.

Purpose Of Review: The COVID-19 pandemic materialized in 2020, the year the international community had expected to meet the interim targets to end AIDS by 2030. Forty years into the HIV pandemic, the COVID-19 pandemic challenges the achievements made in HIV and may even reverse some of them.

Recent Findings: This article provides an overview of the impact of COVID-19 on people with, and at risk of, HIV infection.

[Development of the Agreement of the Council of Ministers approving instructions to update the catalogue of medical causes of exclusion in access to public employment.].

The Agreement of the Council of Ministers of November 30, 2018 approving instructions to eliminate certain medical causes of exclusion in access to public employment, such as HIV, diabetes, celiac disease and psoriasis, has meant an important advance in the protection of the labor rights of people in these conditions. Since then, the tables of medical exclusions have been revised and modified for the National Police, National Police, the Civil Guard, the Customs Surveillance Corps, the Corps of Penitentiary Institutions Assistants, the Military Training Centers, the Training Centers, for the incorporation to the Troops and Marines scales and the National School of Police. In addition, the repeal of the Orders of the National Police (Order of January 11, 1988) and the regulatory modification of the Civil Guard (Order PCI/155/2019) guarantee that the diagnosis of HIV, diabetes, celiac disease and psoriasis, will continue without being an impediment for access to the National Police and the Civil Guard in the calls for the next exercises.

Prevalence and undiagnosed fraction of hepatitis C infection in 2018 in Spain: results from a national population-based survey.

Background: A national strategy against hepatitis C virus (HCV) was implemented in Spain in 2015 with the aim of reducing associated morbidity and mortality. In order to improve our understanding of the epidemiology of HCV, we analysed the prevalence of HCV antibodies and active infection overall and by age and sex in the general population aged 20-80 years. We also aimed to report the undiagnosed fraction.

Consensus statement on the role of health systems in advancing the long-term well-being of people living with HIV.

Health systems have improved their abilities to identify, diagnose, treat and, increasingly, achieve viral suppression among people living with HIV (PLHIV). Despite these advances, a higher burden of multimorbidity and poorer health-related quality of life are reported by many PLHIV in comparison to people without HIV. Stigma and discrimination further exacerbate these poor outcomes.

[Guideline on hepatitis C testing in Spain. An interdisciplinary work with a Public Health approach.].

Within the framework of the Global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis and the Strategic Plan for tackling hepatitis C in the Spanish National Health System, the Secretariat of the National Plan on HIV and STIs and the Unit for Screening Programs in the Ministry of Health have coordinated the policies around the screening of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Spain. This paper describes the experience and learnings arisen around it. The key points of the process include interdisciplinary work through a Technical Group made up of experts from the different fields involved; the availability of scientific evidence for decision-making, highlighting the 2nd Seroprevalence Study in the general population; and a public health approach along the entire process.

Incidence and Severity of COVID-19 in HIV-Positive Persons Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy : A Cohort Study.

Background: The incidence and severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among HIV-positive persons receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) have not been characterized in large populations.

Objective: To describe the incidence and severity of COVID-19 by nucleos(t)ide reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) use among HIV-positive persons receiving ART.

Design: Cohort study.

Cause-specific mortality after diagnosis of cancer among HIV-positive patients: A collaborative analysis of cohort studies.

People living with HIV (PLHIV) are more likely than the general population to develop AIDS-defining malignancies (ADMs) and several non-ADMs (NADMs). Information is lacking on survival outcomes and cause-specific mortality after cancer diagnosis among PLHIV. We investigated causes of death within 5 years of cancer diagnosis in PLHIV enrolled in European and North American HIV cohorts starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) 1996-2015, aged ≥16 years, and subsequently diagnosed with cancer.

[The Social Pact for the Non-discrimination and Equal Treatment Associated with HIV development].

Advances in treatment and care have improved the life expectancy and quality of life for people living with HIV. However, those infected with HIV remain exposed to the social stigma that continues to be associated with this condition and sometimes experience discriminatory treatment in areas such as health, education, the judiciary or the workplace, and in access to benefits and insurance. There is a lot of evidence that the discrimination and stigma associated with HIV alienate people from prevention, diagnosis, treatment and quality of life services.

Reorienting health systems to care for people with HIV beyond viral suppression.

The effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy and its increasing availability globally means that millions of people living with HIV now have a much longer life expectancy. However, people living with HIV have disproportionately high incidence of major comorbidities and reduced health-related quality of life. Health systems must respond to this situation by pioneering care and service delivery models that promote wellness rather than mere survival.