The Primary Care Management of Tenerife has extended a screening network to health centers to increase early detection of HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections, in a pilot project that is already operating in hospital emergency services.
The pilot will consist of three referral points for taking samples located in the Normal Emergency Service of Puerto de la Cruz and the health centers of La Cuesta and San Isidro to cover the northern, metropolitan and southern areas of the island. , respectively.
Patients referred from health centers will be sent to these units, both from the Primary Care teams and from the Normal Emergency Services and Continuous Care Points, as reported by the Ministry of Health in a statement on Tuesday.
This project follows the objectives of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the recommendations of the Division of control of HIV, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Viral Hepatitis and Tuberculosis of the Ministry of Health, among which it includes promoting the offer of the test of HIV through serology under certain circumstances in the different health services.
The presentation of the pilot project has taken place in two training days with the participation of 180 professionals, Primary Care personnel and the Public Health Epidemiology Service, among others.
At the event, the medical director of the Primary Care Management of Tenerife, Clara Gironés, and the deputy director of Nursing, Félix González, highlighted the importance of this initiative for reinforcing the early detection of these diseases on the island from the field of health centers. In this line, they explained that the objective is that thanks to the early detection of these pathologies, the necessary treatments can be started early, thus improving the quality of life of patients.
The president of the Canary Islands Society of Infectious Diseases (Socaei), Ricardo Pelazas, also spoke at these conferences, who addressed the dimension of the HIV problem in the Canary Islands and the importance of early detection. The vice president of the Spanish Society of Emergency and Emergency Medicine (SEMES) in the Canary Islands and a doctor from the SNU Tíncer Miguel Benito also participated, who explained the recommendations for early diagnosis of HIV and the “Leave your mark” program, which has the objective to improve user recruitment and early detection of HIV-infected people who are unaware of their serological status.
During the presentation, the project coordinators, Marta Gómez and Jorge Domínguez, explained how the service works, which patients it is aimed at, as well as the steps and professionals involved in the referral process to the three points for sample collection, which they are operational. In the field of Emergencies, this action represents an extension of the automated system launched by the SCS in clinical history for the early detection of HIV in hospital emergency services, aimed at patients presenting clinical symptoms related to the disease.
With this project, diagnosis is made more accessible for a certain profile of patients who are not users of Primary Care services in which the early detection test for sexually transmitted diseases is carried out. With this initiative, a computer tool is implemented in the public hospitals of Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, with the expectation of gradually extending it to all health areas.
The University Hospital of La Palma already has a protocol for early detection in the Emergency Services of patients with HIV. Likewise, Health and various non-governmental organizations are collaborating on a project to carry out rapid tests for early detection of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
To this end, the General Directorate of Public Health of the Canary Islands Health Service, responsible for the AIDS Plan in the Canary Islands, coordinates a Program for the early detection of HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) by carrying out rapid tests in community settings, an action that it develops in collaboration with non-governmental organizations and other collaborating entities throughout the archipelago.
The Ministry adds that the program for early detection of HIV through rapid tests for HIV, hepatitis C and syphilis in community settings has been carried out since September 2010 with the aim of promoting accessibility to testing for HIV and other infections in the target population and facilitating early diagnosis of people with HIV.
