DistantNews
Support us
🇦🇹 Austria /Health & Science

Women often advised to take HIV tests only after diagnosis is harder to avoid

From Die Presse · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Doctors and HIV advocates in Austria say women are often offered HIV tests only after symptoms appear or a partner tests positive.
  • Pregnancy screening identifies about a quarter of women living with HIV, including those without symptoms.
  • They called for more prevention, less stigma and easier access to testing, particularly through gynecological care and community organizations.

Women in Austria are often offered an HIV test only after they become ill or their partner tests positive, medical professionals and HIV advocates say. Doctors tend to consider HIV earlier when treating men who have sex with men or people who use drugs.

Pregnancy screening makes women less visible in statistics on late diagnoses. An HIV test forms part of Austria's parent-child health passport, and about one quarter of women living with HIV received their diagnosis during pregnancy. Katharina Grabmeier-Pfistershammer of Vienna General Hospital and MedUni Vienna said the screening finds women who have HIV but no symptoms. Outside pregnancy, she said, women have a much lower chance of being offered a test.

Through this screening, women with HIV who do not yet have symptoms of an HIV infection are detected.

— Katharina Grabmeier-PfistershammerShe described how pregnancy screening helps identify women who might otherwise not be offered an HIV test.

Women living with HIV may also find fewer other affected women to talk to than gay men do, Grabmeier-Pfistershammer said. Certain groups, including women from sub-Saharan Africa, can be particularly difficult to reach, while HIV stigma may be especially strong in their communities.

But when a woman is outside this phase of life, she really does not have a very high probability of being offered an HIV test.

— Katharina Grabmeier-PfistershammerShe explained the gap in HIV testing for women outside pregnancy.

The experts called for prevention and information in community languages, including through churches where pastors allow specialists to meet congregations and distribute materials. They also urged healthcare providers to use existing points of contact more effectively, especially gynecologists. Andrea Brunner of AIDS Hilfe Wien said sexual health should be discussed openly and testing should be available through low-threshold services with less stigma.

Austria recorded 417 new HIV diagnoses last year. The average age at first diagnosis has risen over the decades, while older people are also more sexually active than in the past, Grabmeier-Pfistershammer said. September 4 is World Sexual Health Day.

We need to normalize talking about it, then we also normalize living with it.

— Andrea BrunnerThe AIDS Hilfe Wien director called for more open discussion of sexual health and HIV.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Presse in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog