Last week, DG SANTE hosted the EU HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis and Tuberculosis Think Tank and Civil Society Forum meetings, the fifth such event since their last renewal in early 2017. The meetings took place back-to-back with a Dissemination workshop of the project "European Surveys and Training to Improve MSM Community Health" (ESTICOM), funded by the 3rd EU Health Programme.

The Civil Society Forum met on 17 – 18 June.  The group consists of 40 representatives from major non-governmental organisations and networks working on HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and tuberculosis across the European Union and neighbouring countries. On the first day, the Forum exchanged information on advocacy activities, on policy and expert events, and on recent developments in Latvia, Romania, Finland, Czechia and Poland. Four working groups, focusing on 1) advocacy to keep health on the political agenda and sustain funding, 2) access to treatment and affordability of medicines and diagnostics, 3) addressing stigma, legal and regulatory barriers and human rights violations, and 4) implementation of combination prevention, discussed progress on various deliverables to be submitted to the Think Tank and to the Commission. On the second day, discussions focused on the EU Presidencies, as well as on ways to address the challenges in funding HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis' response in Central and Eastern Europe.

On 18 and 20 June, representatives from EU Member States, Candidate and European Economic Area countries, as well as from selected neighbouring countries, gathered in the Think Tank meeting to exchange information and contribute to a coordinated approach in combatting HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and tuberculosis in the European Union and the neighbouring countries. They also focused on what best steps to take at EU level in support of national policies, and further strengthening the application of best practices to fight the three epidemics. On Tuesday, participants looked at the monitoring results, and specifically at the distance remaining to reach the Sustainable Development Goals, and had a fruitful round table discussion on recent developments, challenges and achievements at national level. On Thursday, 20 June, the Civil Society Forum co-chairs also joined the meeting and both fora exchanged summaries of their previous discussions. This was followed by Portugal's showcasing a call for common strategies on drug access, diagnosis and preventive treatment of tuberculosis, on the new WHO tuberculosis research strategy. Other topics discussed included sharing and implementing good practices, including impact and sustainability of tools piloted by the EU Health Programme (ESTICOM project, HA-REACT Joint Action, E-DETECT TB project, and INTEGRATE Joint Action); another showcase from Portugal on facilitating access to health services for asylum seekers and irregular residents;  monitoring the elimination of hepatitis C in the UK and relevant monitoring and public health guidance tools developed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and the WHO.

In both meetings, the Commission gave an update on its recent activities, including a process of setting priorities for the next Commission, the Commission Reflection Paper: Towards a Sustainable Europe by 2030, policy events and meetings with the civil society organisations, the EU Health Programme, Multiannual Financial Framework, country health profiles, and on health in the EU drugs policy. Brief presentations were also given on the Public Health Best Practice Portal and the EU Health Policy Platform.

Member States have definitely made progress at national level and these meetings provide a great platform to share and learn from each others’ experiences. Yet, quite some work is still to be done if we are to end the epidemics of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis and to reduce hepatitis by 2030 and to reach the Sustainable Development Goal 3.3.