HIV/AIDS surveillance in Europe 2018 : 2017 data

HIV transmission remains a major public health concern and affects more than 2 million people in the WHO European Region, particularly in the eastern part of the Region. This report is the latest in a series published jointly by European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the WHO Regional Office for Europe that has been reporting data on HIV and AIDS in the WHO European Region and in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) since 2007. It finds that while epidemic patterns and trends vary widely across European countries, nearly 160 000 people were diagnosed with HIV in the European Region in 2017, including 25 000 in the EU/EEA. The increasing trend in new HIV diagnoses continued for the Region overall, despite decreasing rates of new diagnoses in the EU/EEA. The report calls for urgent action for countries and areas (especially in the eastern part) to revamp their political commitment and scale up efforts to implement the Action plan for the health sector response to HIV in the WHO European Region.