{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T06:10:16Z","timestamp":1785391816787,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,21]],"date-time":"2024-05-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1716249600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["HIV Medicine"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>Voluntary counselling and testing points (VCTs) offer anonymous and free HIV tests in Poland. They also play an essential role in educational initiatives focused on the prevention and diagnosis of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. However, no comprehensive data is available that summarizes the results of the work carried out by these VCTs. Therefore, our aim was to conduct a comparative analysis of epidemiological data obtained from VCTs and data reported by the epidemiological surveillance undertaken by the National Institute of Public Health NIH\u2013National Research Institute (NIPH NIH\u2013NRI) covering the period from 2015 to 2022.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This retrospective analysis was conducted on data from 258\u2009071 people attending VCTs in Poland in 2015\u20132022.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>On average, 32\u2009259 individuals underwent testing each year, with a notable increase in the number of people being tested in November. The average positivity rate was 1.39% (3576\/258\u2009071). The Masovian voivodeship conducted the most tests and had the highest number of positive results. The comparative analysis of the frequency of detecting positive results in VCTs and those reported in NIPH NIH\u2013NRI data revealed that, on average, 31.49% (3576\/11\u2009356) of positive results in Poland between 2015 and 2022 were identified through tests conducted at VCTs.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The positive results identified in VCTs constituted approximately one\u2010third of all results reported by the National Institute of Public Health NIH\u2013National Research Institute, highlighting the importance of VCTs. Moreover, the high availability of testing in the Masovian voivodeship resulted in better detection of HIV. The educational actions performed during European Testing Week increased the number of tests performed in November.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/hiv.13658","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,22]],"date-time":"2024-05-22T06:05:57Z","timestamp":1716357957000},"page":"1040-1050","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Voluntary counselling and testing points (<scp>VCTs<\/scp>) in Poland as a complementary and accessible alternative to public healthcare facilities: A comparative analysis of epidemiological data from the <scp>VCTs<\/scp> and the National Institute of Public Health <scp>NIH<\/scp>\u2013National Research Institute (2015\u20132022)"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-3895-3567","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adrian","family":"Szczepa\u0144ski","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Medical Microbiology, Chair of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine Jagiellonian University Medical College  Krakow Poland"},{"name":"Association of Health Prevention \u201cOne World\u201d  Krak\u00f3w Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2756-3340","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Karolina","family":"Klesiewicz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology Jagiellonian University Medical College  Krakow Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2899-1611","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Magdalena","family":"Ankiersztejn\u2010Bartczak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Foundation for Social Education (FES)  Warsaw Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2508-7934","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kamil","family":"Dro\u017cd\u017c","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Medical Microbiology, Chair of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine Jagiellonian University Medical College  Krakow Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7178-9801","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bartosz","family":"Szetela","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Liver Disease and Acquired Immune Deficiencies Wroclaw Medical University  Wroc\u0142aw Poland"},{"name":"Wroc\u0142awskie Centrum Zdrowia ZOZ All Saints Clinic  Wroc\u0142aw Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-8149-7424","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aldona","family":"Olechowska\u2010Jarz\u0105b","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology Jagiellonian University Medical College  Krakow Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7415-0154","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Monika","family":"Brzychczy\u2010W\u0142och","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Medical Microbiology, Chair of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine Jagiellonian University Medical College  Krakow Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_9_2_1","unstructured":"European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control\/WHO Regional Office for Europe.HIV\/AIDS surveillance in Europe 2023\u20132022 data. 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