Basque pharmacies extend the rapid HIV test for early diagnosis of syphilis to HSH.

-From March 2009, date on which the rapid HIV test, was initiated until the month of October, a total of 8,300 people have gone to Basque pharmacies to take the test, of which 15 per cent were men who have sex with men (MSM)

Bilbao, December of 2011- the Department of health of the Basque Government and the Council of pharmacists of the Basque country have announced the expansion of the service of rapid test of HIV which is offered in Basque pharmacies from 2009 to early diagnosis of syphilis. The collective gay and men who have casual encounters with men (MSM) will benefit in the same test of AIDS – and for the same price ($5) – the above-mentioned diagnostic.

As says Health Minister Rafael Bengoa the campaign aims to raise awareness to a group which is not really aware of the spread of AIDS in Euskad.i data ”. Bengoa warned that accounted for 41% of new infected with HIV in the Basque country in 2010 to men who have sex with men; It is a really alarming figure if we take into account that the collective of HSH can be around 2.5 per cent of the total population ”. With regard to syphilis, Bengoa also warned that 73% of new diagnosed cases belong to this group. That is why it has been decided to include the test for this disease along with the HIV rapid test of the offices of pharmacy ”.

This expansion of the test is fast guaranteed by the success of the diagnosis made in Basque pharmacies with the preventive diagnosis of HIV. Since March 2009, date on which the program was initiated until last October, a total of 8,300 people have gone to pharmacies to take the test, of which 15 per cent were HSH. In these two and a half years have elapsed, found positive 68. Of these positives, 45 per cent were men who had had sex with other men, which shows the risk to which faces this group ”, said Virginia Cortina, President of the Council of pharmacists of Euskadi. Cortina also noted, however, that thanks to the rapid test of the pharmacy, these 68 people had access to early diagnosis, which has allowed that they receive a prompt treatment thus increasing dramatically their expectations and their quality of life ”.

A specific for HSH web

In addition, the campaign, not closing our eyes to HIV. Man to man, used condoms, he has another also pioneering initiative at the State level Spanish, which is the creation of a web page of sexually transmitted infections directed exclusively online consultation to the collective of HSH. The reason for this initiative, explained the Advisor, is based on collective homosexual uses Internet to search for sexual contacts. In fact, according to the survey EMIS (performed at European level with the participation of 381 Basque HSH), more of half of gay men (54%) met their last casual partner over the network ”.