HIV Indicator Diseases Across Europe Study - HIDES – is a study aiming at developing focused HIV testing in patients presenting with certain indicator diseases (ID). ID’s are diseases and/or clinical conditions often connected to HIV infection - also in the early stage of the infection. The objective is, to build evidence of HIV prevalence for the specific conditions and diseases where HIV prevalence is thought to be higher than in the general population.
The concept of indicator disease guided testing is, to encourage health care practitioners to test more patients based on suspicion of HIV, in order to diagnose and treat HIV infection earlier and decrease the number late presenters as well as reduce the risk of transmission.

The study has 2 approaches:

1. Implement surveys across Europe, to test patients not yet diagnosed with HIV, who present for care with 1 of 11 specific diseases, to assess the HIV prevalence within the disease.

2.  Implement and evaluate an audit system of the performance of HIV testing of persons presenting with a disease which has already been established as an indicator for HIV testing.