The number of new cases diagnosed with HIV infection decreased in the World Health Organization (WHO) European region between 2013 and 2022, the European Center for Disease Control announced on Tuesday.
The European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) report, released to mark World AIDS Day, which falls on Friday, said HIV infection “continues to affect millions of people”.
“The number of women diagnosed fell by 26% in the WHO European Region, from 52,788 in 2013 to 39,070 in 2022, and the number of men diagnosed fell by 21%, from 90,208 to 71,118,” the report said.
Last year f110,496 HIV diagnoses were reported, the majority in Eastern Europe (72%), mainly in Russia and Ukraine. The West and Center regions also reported cases (10% and 8% respectively).
In the countries of the European Economic Area (EEA), which also includes the European Union (EU), 22,995 new diagnoses were reported.
The WHO European Region records more than 2.4 million cases diagnosed in the last 30 years – and more than 620,000 people in the EU/EEA.
“The overall trend largely reflects the situation in Russia, where the number of diagnoses has decreased by 31% since 2019. The remaining countries have seen significant differences, especially in 2022, when several countries saw a dramatic increase in the number of diagnosed cases originating from Central and Eastern Europe. including previous positive cases,” the report notes.
On the other hand, a drop of more than 50% was registered among men in Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal. Among women, the largest declines between 2013 and 2022 were observed in Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Romania.
Still, the WHO European Region recorded an increase of 4.2% compared to 2021, but diagnoses are 20.5% lower than in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic. In the EU/EEA, cases increased by 30.8% between 2021 and 2022, but decreased compared to 2019.
“Several factors are contributing to the differences in trends in HIV infections between 2021 and 2022, including the resumption of surveillance activities, the expansion and introduction of new testing strategies in many countries, migration patterns, the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions and the influx of refugees. , especially from Ukraine,” he emphasizes.
Furthermore, according to the report, the increase in previous positive diagnoses played an important role in determining the epidemiological profile of HIV in Europe, especially in the EU/EEA and the Western Region.
“Heterosexual contact has become the leading route of HIV transmission by 2022, especially among women.”highlights, adding that “despite a decline in HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men (MSM) since 2014, there was a slight increase in 2022, especially among MSM of migrant origin.”
With a late diagnosis, about half (50.6% in the WHO region, 47.9% in the (EU/EEA)) of people diagnosed in 2022 had a “CD4 cell count less than 350 per mm3” .
HIV transmission among people who inject drugs remains at low levels in most EU/EEA countries, with a small increase in the number of diagnosed cases observed in 2022.
“This increase is significantly lower than that observed in other forms of transmission, thanks to the presence of established signals and effective harm reduction programs in most EU/EEA countries. (…) This slight increase can be attributed to earlier positive diagnoses, as 24.4% of all persons infected via injection of drugs fall into this category,” the document said.
This slight increase was recorded in most EU/EEA countries, but in Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal and Romania there was a decrease of more than 30%.
Ten countries, including Portugal, consistently reported data on HIV tests conducted between 2013 and 2022, excluding unlinked anonymous tests and blood donation tests.
Source: DN
