CORE was a successful European Union–funded project aimed at reducing inequalities by strengthening community responses and addressing gaps in mainstream HIV and other STI prevention and healthcare services, particularly in EU Member States where such responses are limited. Drugreporter proudly presents this short video summarising the project’s results.

The CORE project employed strategies such as capacity building, networking, the exchange of good practices, and the implementation of innovative approaches to promote, strengthen, and integrate community-driven responses.

CORE focused on reaching the most vulnerable populations, who traditionally face greater barriers to accessing testing and linkage to care for HIV, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and tuberculosis. To achieve its objectives, CORE engaged key stakeholders and addressed legal, policy, and structural barriers in order to facilitate the integration of community-driven approaches into disease prevention and health promotion strategies. The project built on existing collaborations among regional networks and national and local organisations, leveraging best practices and tools to support populations “left behind” in national responses. Ultimately, CORE aimed to integrate and harmonise community responses tailored to the complex needs of people experiencing multiple vulnerabilities.

Through the CORE project, a total of 67,833 integrated screening sessions were conducted, offering rapid testing for HIV, viral hepatitis, and syphilis, alongside 16,891 self-testing instances. Within these integrated screening sessions, 66,626 HIV tests, 42,982 HCV tests, 34,630 HBV tests, and 53,124 syphilis tests were carried out. In addition, 2.7 million condoms and 597,747 lubricants were distributed among key population groups.

The global AIDS strategy has set testing and treatment targets for 2030: 95 percent of people living with HIV should know their status, 95 percent of those diagnosed should receive treatment, and 95 percent of those on treatment should achieve an undetectable viral load and become non-infectious.

“Europe in general has failed to meet these targets,” said Ferenc Bagyinszky of AIDS ACTION EUROPE the designer of the CORE project. One of the reasons is the lack of sustainable funding for community leadership in the HIV response, as well as the neglect of some key targets. These include the so-called social enabler targets, such as reducing the number of communities that have been criminalised. Discrimination and stigma should also have been addressed much more seriously if we truly want people to access services and get tested and treated for HIV.

“We have experienced that in the EU, and especially at the level of the European Commission, there has been a reduced interest in investing in HIV, both politically and financially,” added Bagyinszky. This project is ending, and in the current work programme there is no opportunity for organisations to apply for HIV-related funding.

According to Tamás Bereczky, programme manager of CORE at DAH, we are already seeing a slight increase in new infections, even in Western Europe and North America.

“If we continue with the policies we have now, there will be a sharp increase very soon. And this know-how, this knowledge, and the capacities that our communities and organisations are trying to preserve will be needed again. Why do we have to wait until then?” asked Bereczky.

“The CORE Action Grant strongly demonstrated the role of communities in ending HIV and AIDS, but we cannot do it without sustainable funding,” said Bagyinszky. “Community response is a key cornerstone in the fight against HIV and other communicable disease pandemics. Now, in the final five years leading up to the 2030 targets to end AIDS as a public health threat, Member States and the European Commission must do their best, take a real political stance, and demonstrate through funding that they take these targets seriously.”

The following organisations participated in the CORE project: the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp; the European AIDS Treatment Group; the European Sex Workers Rights Alliance (Belgium); Health Without Borders (Bulgaria); AIDS Solidarity Movement (Cyprus); the Czech AIDS Help Society (Czechia); Fédération Parapluie Rouge (France); AIDS Action Europe / Deutsche Aidshilfe; Afrikaherz / VIA Berlin (Germany); Positive Voice and Praksis (Greece); Háttér Társaság and the Rights Reporter Foundation (Drugreporter, Hungary); Foundation for Social Education (Poland); LILA Milano (Italy); GAT Portugal; ARAS and Carusel (Romania); Odyseus (Slovakia); Legebitra (Slovenia); CEEISCAT (Spain, Catalonia); Noaks Ark Mozaik (Sweden); the Africa Advocacy Foundation and Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network (the Netherlands).

As the official videographer of the project, Drugreporter produced over 30 videos during the three-year project period. These include the project opening video and reels; mid-term results videos; a short documentary on an outstanding new HIV testing site run by FES in Warsaw; a short documentary highlighting exemplary peer involvement at GAT in Portugal; a recording of the stakeholders’ meeting in Paris; and an article featuring Dominika Jasekova of the NGO Odyseus on the reform of hepatitis C treatment in Slovakia, all available via the links above.

Video by István Gábor Takács.
The majority of the text in this article is drawn from the Lessons Learnt Report by Maria Plotko, Muhammad Sharjeel, and Nataliia Gerasymchuk.