Migrants’ Inclusion Central to Achieving HIV and Hepatitis C Targets by 2030

In July 2018, the European African Treatment Advocates Network (EATAN), in partnership with Treatment Action Group (TAG) and other migrant-focused organizations, hosted the first European African HIV & Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Community Summit. The Summit was organized as an AIDS 2018 Pre-Independent Affiliated event in Amsterdam and attended by delegates from across the EU.

The Summit aimed to launch a campaign for a European African consensus statement on migrant communities’ inclusion in decision-making processes and to develop enduring cooperation and commitment towards HIV and hepatitis C elimination. With new treatment regimens that treat all genotypes, or all genetic variations, of the hepatitis C virus, an opportunity exists to make HCV elimination a reality. To fast-track elimination, the Summit considered the diverse healthcare policy landscape among EU states, patient education and empowerment practices, barriers to accessing affordable diagnostics, treatment, and care for migrants, and treatment advocacy and activism strategies needed to catalyse policy changes.

The campaign to include migrants’ health rights in national elimination plans continues.

The meeting summary can be found here.