In 2010, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published the guidance HIV testing: increasing uptake and effectiveness in the European Union (from now on referred to as “2010 guidance”). In consideration of the recent developments in the field, ECDC is planning to update the guidance in 2016-2017. In the light of several International and National testing guidelines/guidances released recently, ECDC has to carefully consider if an update of the testing guidance is needed and would be of added value.

As preparatory work, ECDC undertook an external evaluation of the impact of the 2010 guidance with regards to the development or implementation of testing policies in the EU/EEA at national, sub- national or supra-national levels. A needs assessment to identify the current requirements in the EU/EEA for an up-to-date revised ECDC HIV testing guidance was also conducted in parallel.

As a final step ECDC organized an expert consultation which was hosted in Stockholm on 28-29 January 2016 with the aim to discuss the findings and collect expert advice to better understand the use and impact, if any, of the 2010 guidance in the EU/EEA and to advise ECDC on any future steps in this area, including a possible guidance update. The meeting was held with significant involvement of the patient community including OptTEST and the EATG.

This is the link to the official report from the meeting:  http://www.eatg.org/news/174095/ECDC_Testing_Advisory_Panel_Meeting_Report