15–18 October, Paris hosted the 20th European AIDS Conference (EACS 2025) — a key international event in HIV response that brought together scientists, clinicians, researchers, and community representatives to discuss innovative approaches in HIV prevention, treatment, and care, including digital technologies and the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
Tetiana Deshko, Director of the Department of International Programs at Alliance for Public Health, participated in the conference, held meetings with partners from various countries in the region, and shared experiences in implementing innovative solutions in Eastern Europe and Central Asia that increase the effectiveness of HIV testing and early treatment initiation.
Tetyana’s presentation took place within the parallel session “How can AI be used to advance in HIV prevention, treatment and care?”, which explored current AI applications in HIV prevention, case finding, treatment, and care, while also discussing scientific, medical, ethical, and privacy challenges.
“AI is a technology that, together with biomedical advances such as lenacapavir and the focused work of communities, can help achieve global HIV targets,” said Tetiana Deshko.
Key innovations presented:
- TWIIN – an innovative AI-powered virtual consultant, available 24/7 at twiin.aph.org.ua , on mobile phones or any device. The service covers HIV, tuberculosis, addictions, and mental health. All digital “humans” are real social workers and community representatives. Implemented within the iSoS regional partnership, supported financially by The Global Fund.
- Machine learning applications to optimize detection of new HIV cases, increasing testing efficiency in high-risk networks and supporting early treatment initiation using predictive algorithms.
- Help24 TeleHealth — a telemedicine platform developed under Ukraine’s National Telemedicine Strategy, providing access to HIV, STI, and mental health services for vulnerable populations (127,192 services provided to date, help24.org.ua/en).
- AI in Business Continuity Planning (BCP) for HIV organisations — automated risk forecasting, intelligent crisis response support, and democratised access to expert training for organizations of any size. Implemented by Social Equation Hub, within the iSoS regional partnership.
Tetiana demonstrated how integrating data from multiple sources and using predictive algorithms helps identify people in need faster and make life-saving decisions, even under war conditions.