HIV in Europe

Abstract In 2011, the estimated number of people living with HIV in Europe and Central Asia was 2.3 million. This is more than twice the 2001 figure. At the same time, approximately 50% of the infected people may not know their HIV status. The Europe/Central Asia region is one of only two regions in which HIV infections continue to increase. The estimated prevalence rate in the west and center of the region, however, has remained stable at 0.2%. The HIV epidemics in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are typically driven by unsafe drug injection and by onward transmission to the sexual partners of people who inject drugs. In the western part of the region, the epidemic remains concentrated among men who have sex with men and migrants from countries with generalized epidemics. Means of preventing and fighting HIV should, first and foremost, be directed to those parts of the population that are most exposed to the risk of the infection. Proceeding from the data presented, recommendations are given for ways of decreasing HIV prevalence in the region, such as promoting dialogue and awareness among multistakeholders, including policy makers, donors, and population groups most exposed to the infection.