Estimating the potential health economic value of introducing universal opt-out testing for HIV in emergency departments in Italy
Italy faces challenges with late HIV diagnoses, which leads to worse health outcomes and higher healthcare costs. In Italy, the proportion of late diagnoses (i.e., a CD4 count <350 cells/mm3) has increased to 60% in 2020—10% higher than the European average (1). With an estimated 13,000–15,000 undiagnosed HIV cases in Italy, innovative testing strategies are urgently needed Read More >
When will the UK achieve HIV transmission elimination? Modelling the impact of current HIV prevention efforts on progress towards the 2030 elimination goal
In 2019, the previous UK government set the ambitious target of eliminating HIV transmission within the UK by 2030. While great progress has been made in HIV prevention and treatment in the UK, with England reaching the UNAIDS 95-95-95 target in 20231, past evidence suggested that the goal of ‘elimination’ by 2030 is unlikely to Read More >
The use of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) as COVID-19 pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for immunocompromised patients with haematological malignancies in Germany
Patients with haematological malignancies (HM) are particularly vulnerable to severe outcomes from COVID-19, with mortality rates reaching up to 34% in this patient group following COVID-19 infection (1). Although COVID-19 vaccines have been widely effective in reducing severe outcomes in the general population, patients with haematological malignancies often have limited immune responses to vaccination, even Read More >
Self-sampling for cervical cancer screening – what is it and what does evidence from Europe tell us about whether it provides any benefits compared to traditional ways of screening?
Regular screening is crucial for preventing cervical cancer or identifying cancer at an early stage, when treatment is most likely to be successful. Screening is particularly important for women who did not receive the HPV vaccine; in the UK, that means most women over the age of 30. Many European countries, including the UK, have Read More >
Is it possible to eliminate the transmission of a virus which doesn’t have a cure or a vaccine? This is certainly the hope for HIV.
In 2019, the previous government committed to eliminating HIV transmission by 2030 [1]. An action plan was developed [2] and a funding commitment made for opt-out HIV testing in hospital A&Es. However, an analysis by UCL [3] found that we are unlikely to achieve the 2030 goal with the current prevention efforts, despite an estimated Read More >
Could universal opt-out HIV testing in Italian emergency departments be a cost-effective way of increasing HIV diagnosis rates in Italy?
In Italy, 60% of new HIV diagnoses are in people who already have advanced disease (i.e., a CD4 count <350 cells/mm3) (1). This highlights an urgent need for alternative screening strategies if Italy is to make progress towards achieving the UNAIDS target of diagnosing at least 95% of people living with HIV (2). Read More >
Exploring an alternative way to triage samples within cervical cancer screening
Our analysis comparing the costs of using DNA methylation testing for triage instead of liquid-based cytology (LBC) within the Netherlands cervical screening programme has now been published as an open access peer reviewed publication in the journal Diagnostics. Self-sample collection for human papillomavirus (HPV)-primary cervical screening has been adopted in some settings to complement traditional Read More >
Assessing the potential health and economic benefits of improved management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in England, Germany, Canada, and Japan.
We are pleased to announce the publication of our research on the value of improved management for COPD in the International Journal of COPD. In this study, we used established modelling techniques to estimate the potential health and economic benefit of theoretical policy scenarios for two interventions aimed at reducing hospitalisations due to severe exacerbation: Read More >
Economic evaluation comparing two cervical screening strategies in Belgium: HPV primary versus co-testing
Our recent research comparing two hypothetical cervical screening algorithms in Belgium, has been accepted for publication in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention and is now available online as a preprint in medRxiv. In the study, we performed a cost-consequence analysis to evaluate the financial implications and potential benefits of two different screening protocols: 1) Read More >
Looking at the cost implications of using PCR-based respiratory panel assays for patients admitted to hospital with pneumonia in the UK, France and Spain
Our paper on the cost of using PCR-based respiratory panel assays for patients with pneumonia was published this week in BMC Pulmonary Medicine. This work, funded by the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI), compared the cost of using standard diagnostic tests with the cost of using either an upper respiratory pathogen PCR-based panel test, a lower Read More >