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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 1 FEBRUARY 2017 News Malta planning rapid HIV testing as Europe seeks to adopt effective policies YANNICK PACE THE Maltese health directorate will soon launch a rapid HIV testing procedure which would ensure that patients receive their test results in less than an hour. Rapid tests are often referred to as point-of-care tests because rather than sending a blood sam- ple to a laboratory, the test can be conducted and the result read in a doctor's office or a community setting, without specialised labo- ratory equipment. The sample taken is usually ei- ther finger-prick blood or saliva. Health Minister Chris Fearne said rapid testing will be made available over the coming year, which would also increase access to testing for all. Fearne was speaking at a press briefing following a three-day conference on HIV, organised under the auspices of Malta's presidency of the Council of Eu- rope, and together with the Euro- pean Centre for Disease Control (ECDC). "Significant advances have been made in HIV treatment and re- search, however efforts to eradi- cate the disease, especially in Europe, have proved unsuccess- ful, with the number of new in- fections among gay men steadily increasing," Fearne said. The minister explained that while new cases of HIV among heterosexual couples has been stable for a while, an increase in new cases of HIV among homo- sexual men has been observed over the past four to five years in Malta. In order to address the epidemic on a European level, Fearne said that Europe has set the "90-90- 90 targets" to be met by the year 2020, involving three main tar- gets: having 90% of those living with HIV know they are infected; making sure that 90% of them are receiving treatment and ensuring that 90% of those receiving treat- ment are no longer carriers. Andrew Amato Gauci from the European Centre for Disease Pre- vention and Control stressed the importance of taking action to stop the spread of sexually trans- mitted infections, which he said were increasing at rates that were reminiscent of the spread ob- served in the 60s. Wolfgang Philips, the head of unit for crisis management and preparedness in health at the Eu- ropean Commission, explained how there has been a shift among different risk groups lately across Europe with more efforts needed to reverse the trends in some cases. "We need more action on the ground. It's a timely meeting, that can help us work out concrete ac- tions to scale up the fight against AIDS," he said. In addition to sexually-active homosexual men, drug users, specifically those using injection drugs, are also at a higher risk of infection. It was pointed out that different member states were having vary- ing degrees of success in dealing with HIV among this demo- graphic. "In many countries, the number of new cases among this group has not been increasing very much, mainly because of these coun- tries adopting effective policies," he said, adding that in countries where less preventative measures have been taken, the problem is far greater. He also pointed out that drug users in Europe tend to be diag- nosed relatively late, meaning that access to drug testing is limited. This is especially true of Eastern Europe, where only 21% are be- lieved to have access to treatment. 1,147 parents charged in court over children's truancy PAUL COCKS 1,147 parents of children attending government schools were arraigned in Court and charged with failing to ensure that their children at- tended school in the last scholastic year 2015-2016, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said on Monday. Bartolo, who was replying to questions put to him in Parliament by Nationalist MP Etienne Grech, said that a further 31 parents of children attending church schools and 10 parents of children attend- ing independent schools were also arraigned on the same charges. Of the 1,147 parents of govern- ment school children arraigned, 379 had their children in primary school, while 768 had children in secondary schools. Bartolo said that 12 of the 31 church school children who missed school repeatedly, were in primary school and the remaining 19 at- tended secondary school. In the case of the children attend- ing independent schools, five were in primary school and five attended secondary school. The total number of parents ar- raigned was the lowest in six years, with 1,294 parents arraigned in the 2014-2015 scholastic year, 1,595 (2013-2014), 1,398 (2012-2013), 1,609 (2011-2012) and 1,760 (2010- 2011). In the scholastic year 2009-2010, 1,145 parents had been arraigned. Bartolo said that social workers and social support workers worked hard throughout the year in a bid to control absenteeism, intervening in the students' school, family and so- cial lives. He said that this work was carried out with the collaboration of the schools, professionals and the Edu- cation Directorate, especially the Psycho-Social Educational Services within the Colleges. Services offered included psy- chological meetings in schools, counselling, career guidance, psy- chotherapy and the Safe School Programme which addresses child protection, bullying and substance abuse. Social workers intervene in the school, family and social lives of students who repeatedly miss school Chris Fearne: New HIV testing procedure will ensure that patients receive their test results in less than an hour