The Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Directorate has been a partner of the H-CUBE project which targeted three specific sexually transmitted infections namely Hepatitis B and C and HIV/AIDS.

The project was co-financed by the European Commission – Executive Agency for Health and Consumers, Health Programme 2008. It started on the 1st May 2009 and is now nearing its end after a period of 30 months. The main aim of the project was primarily to organise a European information and prevention campaign involving young people aged between 15 and 24 years.

The project took into account the cultural, social, economic and political differences of the participating countries. The University of Sassari in Italy was the leading partner of the project, while the other partners were Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Slovenia, Poland, Hungry, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Lithuania.

The partners identified examples of good practice in the field of HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C in their own countries in order to map prevention campaigns and services offered in the area on a European level.

The partners also created an on-line course covering information about the three infectious diseases, transmission, prevention, and policies governing the diseases concerned. The courses were translated into the languages of the participating countries, including Maltese. The course was offered online to anyone interested in learning more about the three infectious diseases aimed at parents, teachers, counsellors and health professionals.

Outreach programmes were held in a number of localities where young people gather. In Malta, these included The Point in Sliema, The Gallarija in Fgura and Baystreet, as well as on the Gozo Ferry. Young people were also reached on the beach and through internet. The project had its own a web- site www.hcube-project.eu, which was the main tool where the questionnaires, information and data was uploaded.

Further information about the project can be obtained from the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Directorate on 23266000 or through email on health.pro@gov.mt.

HCube project is Co-funded by the Programme of Community Action in the field of Public Health 2008 – European Commission – Executive Agency for Health and Consumers (EAHC) H-CUBE project consortium is solely responsible for the content of this report, which does not represent the opinion of the Community. The Community is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained in this document.

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