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Europe has made good progress towards the goal of ending AIDS by 2030, but late diagnosis of HIV remains a significant problem, new figures show.
Data released to mark World AIDS Day on Tuesday, December 1, showed new diagnoses in the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA) had declined by 9% since 2010.
AIDS cases have declined by nearly a quarter over the same period, according to the figures.
The vast majority of new cases emerge in Eastern European countries, especially Russia and Ukraine.
But the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said the number of undiagnosed HIV cases was increasing.
It can take three years for an average European infected with HIV to be diagnosed, he added.
“Too many people in the [region] are diagnosed late (53%), which increases their risk of disease, death and HIV transmission, ”ECDC said.
“The high number of AIDS diagnoses in the East confirms that late diagnosis of HIV remains a major challenge.”
People with HIV who do not know they are infected do not have access to medication and are at risk of spreading the virus to others without knowing it.
Almost 137,000 people were diagnosed with the virus in Europe in 2019, including 25,000 in countries of the European Union and the European Economic Area (EEA).
The highest number of cases per 100,000 population in Western Europe was reported in France, the United Kingdom and Germany.
No cure, but effective treatments
HIV began to spread around the world four decades ago and killed millions of people in the 1980s and 1990s.
The virus damages cells of the immune system, weakening people’s ability to fight off everyday infections.
When a person’s immune system is severely damaged, they develop AIDS, which can be life threatening.
There is no cure for HIV, but drug treatments are now extremely effective in keeping most people healthy.
Winnie Byanyima, United Nations program director UNAIDS, said it was important for the world to repeat “the same mistakes it made in the fight against HIV” in responding to COVID-19.
“Even today, more than 12 million people are still waiting for treatment for HIV and 1.7 million people were infected with HIV in 2019 because they could not access essential services,” said she declared.
One of the world’s sustainable development goals is to eliminate AIDS, a threat to public health by 2030.
Byanima said the target was “already irrelevant before COVID-19,” adding, “We must end social injustices that put people at risk of contracting HIV. And we must fight for the right to health.
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