European AIDS Clinical Society Standard of Care meeting on HIV and related coinfections: The Rome Statements

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the 1st European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS) meeting on Standard of Care in Europe was to raise awareness about the European scenario and come to an agreement on actions that could be taken in the future. METHODS: Data driven presentations on specific topics followed by interactive panel discussions. RESULTS: In Eastern European countries, the epidemic is largely driven by injecting drug use, in contrast with Western Europe where the infection mainly occurs through heterosexual contact. A high proportion of people living with HIV remain unaware of their infection. Substantial differences exist in Eastern Europe and Central Asia with respect to treatment coverage, regimen availability and continuity of drug supply. In 2012, tuberculosis case notification rates were five to ten times higher in Eastern Europe compared to Western Europe, with an alarming proportion of newly diagnosed multi-drug resistant cases . Hepatitis C is widespread among selected geographic areas and risk groups. CONCLUSIONS: Key conclusions from the meeting were: a high priority group of actions, such as to increase HIV awareness and testing, to improve training for health care providers, to ensure equitable patient access to treatments and diagnostics for HIV and co-morbidities, to implement best practices in infection control and treatment of TB and HIV/HCV co-infected patients, should be considered for direct acting antivirals (DAA) treatment.