Inadequate medical advice on HIV / AIDS

Inadequate medical advice on HIV / AIDS

07/29/2014

According to a survey, the majority of physicians in Germany feel that they are insufficiently trained in dealing with HIV-infected patients. And this, although the care of such patients in view of the increasing number of HIV-positive people for many medical professionals more and more part of their daily lives.

Only 30 percent see themselves as competent in HIV / AIDS counseling
According to a survey, the majority of doctors in Germany feel that they are not sufficiently trained to deal with HIV-infected patients. Thus, only 30 percent of respondents were able to provide competent advice on HIV / AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STIs). This is the result of a survey of private health insurance (PKV), the German press agency dpa present. The survey had taken place in mid-July among 504 doctors.

60 percent of physicians want specialist training
This is particularly surprising against the background that considering the increasing number of people with HIV in Germany, the care of such patients for a majority of doctors more and more belong to the professional life. 62 percent of the physicians regularly treated HIV-infected patients. Of the physicians surveyed, around 60 percent would like specialist training on these topics. And 14 percent of the respondents have even announced that they are afraid of becoming infected with HIV in their professional lives.

HIV new diagnoses increased significantly
According to PKV, around 3,000 people in Germany are infected with HIV every year. As the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) only a few weeks ago reported in its epidemiological Bulletin, the number of new HIV infections in the past year was again significantly increased. Accordingly, a total of 3,263 confirmed HIV new diagnoses were transmitted to the RKI in 2013. This corresponds to an increase of around ten percent compared to the previous year. At present, the RKI estimates a total of 78,000 HIV-infected people. Volker Leienbach, Association Director of PKV said: „This shows how important it is to train doctors in dealing with HIV patients.“ He referred to subject-specific further education on the subject by the Federal Center for Health Education and the German AIDS-Hilfe. (Ad)