World AIDS Day: Alarm is on the rise as HIV rates rise

The rate of new HIV infections hit a ten-year high in Europe last year, which sounded the alarm before the thirtieth anniversary of World AIDS Day on Saturday.

Europe has registered nearly 160,000 new HIV cases in 2017.

This equates to 20 people per 100,000 population, compared with 18.2 in 2016, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

The theme of this year's World AIDS Day is "Know Your Status". Last week, a report revealed that 9.4 million people living with HIV in the world did not know that they were infected with the virus.

In Europe, more than 80% of infections were in Eastern Europe last year. Conservative attitudes prevent those most at risk from getting help.

"The European Region of WHO is the only region where HIV infections are rising sharply," said Dr. Masoud Dara, WHO for Europe. "This report should be an alarm bell."

The new EU Member States and those of the European Economic Area have seen a decline in new HIV infections, from 6.9 per 100,000 in 2016 to 5.8 out of 100 39, last year.

Irish independent