[Activities related to STIs and HIV and data collection in German local health authorities, 2012 : can we harvest the...

In Germany, local health authorities (LHA) offering counseling and testing for sexually transmitted infections or human immunodeficiency virus (STI/HIV) routinely collect data. The study's objective was to get an overview of the activities and data collected by the LHA so as to investigate the possibility of harvesting these data at a national level. We performed a cross-sectional survey among all LHA with STI/HIV counseling and testing by using an electronic questionnaire with information on the type of STI/HIV services offered, groups reached, and data collected. Among the 374 LHA, 250 (67 %) responded. Half of them offered common counseling for STI and HIV; 20% conducted outreach work among sex workers and other groups. While HIV tests were available in all LHA, 62 and 56 % also offered hepatitis B and C testing, respectively. Other available tests included syphilis (56 %), gonorrhea (28 %), and chlamydia (27 %). Only 13 % of LHA offer gynecological examinations. While 98 % of LHA reported collecting data, two thirds of these records were paper-based. Although 77 % analyzed their data, 58 % reported their data to the regional level. Standardization of the STI/HIV data seems feasible for most of the LHA. This would allow annual statistics to be compiled at municipal, regional, and national levels.