By Andrea Hargraves 
Sintra City Council is once again associated with the Spring European HIV and Hepatitis Testing Week which runs until May 22nd as part of the FAST TRACK CITIES programme.
European HIV and Viral Hepatitis Testing Week is a European campaign that mobilizes civil society organizations, public health institutions and local authorities across Europe to meet twice a year, in May and November, to promote testing and promote the benefits of prevention.
This initiative aims to increase public awareness of the benefit of early diagnosis of HIV infection and viral hepatitis, as well as the effectiveness of adherence to treatment, while fully respecting the principle of confidentiality. Tests are free, fast and anonymous.
Screening targeting the most vulnerable groups, in the context of joint prevention, is a priority service within the scope of infectious disease prevention and control policies.
Portugal joined this initiative in 2013, boosting screening for HIV, viral hepatitis and other sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) for another year. Still-existing gaps in diagnosing these infections have become a threat to international strategies to eliminate HIV infection, viral hepatitis, and STDs as a serious public health problem by 2030.
The municipality of Sintra is part of the Fast Track Cities – Cities on the Fast Track to End the HIV Epidemic, having joined the Paris Declaration in 2018 and, for this reason, is considered a district on the “Fast Track” to end HIV. AIDS, viral hepatitis, STDs, and tuberculosis.