On 1 December 2009 ECDC published the new edition of "HIV/AIDS surveillance in Europe 2008". Prepared jointly with the WHO Regional Office for Europe, it presents data on HIV and AIDS for the whole European Region, including the EU and EEA countries.
To mark World AIDS Day, ECDC, together with the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, organised a series of events. The first, on 27 November, was held in memory of Dr Jan-Olof Morfeldt, a Swedish HIV/AIDS pioneer and activist and focused on stigma and discrimination.
The second, on 1 December 2009, was a scientific seminar at the European Parliament in Brussels to brief policymakers on the HIV/AIDS situation in Europe. It focussed on one of the main risk groups for HIV in the European Union, namely men who have sex with men. A special issue of the journal ‘Eurosurveillance’ contributed to the scientific debate on increasing trends of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in this risk group. It was highlighted that improved and innovative prevention measures are needed to reduce the burden of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections among men who have sex with men across EU Member States.
Simultaneously, a red ribbon was unveiled on ECDC’s premises, symbolising ECDC’s commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS.
WHAT IS ECDC DOING?
- Coordinating the HIV/AIDS surveillance network in collaboration with WHO Regional Office for Europe.
- Coordinates the STI surveillance network including the STI microbiology project (with focus on gonococci resistance surveillance and STI laboratory training) as from 2009.
- Develops and implements enhanced surveillance of hepatitis B and C.
- Supporting EU Member States to develop and implement standardised behavioural surveillance.
- Developing a monitoring and evaluation programme to a) review national HIV prevention and control programmes, and b) support the European Commission in monitoring national and international commitments to fight HIV/AIDS.
- Performing country visits to review HIV/STI surveillance and prevention programmes and to share country experiences and best practices.
- Producing annual surveillance reports on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections.
- Producing scientific guidance documents on key prevention strategies (such as Chlamydia control (2009) and HIV testing (2010)).
RELATED STORIES
Monitoring the Dublin Declaration on Partnership to fight HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia
In June 2009, experts from all 53 countries in the WHO European Region were invited to ECDC to take part in a monitoring-and-evaluation workshop on the Dublin Declaration on Partnership to fight HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia. The aim of this workshop was to:
• present the indicator framework for monitoring the Dublin Declaration;
• assess the availability of country data and evaluate the questionnaire;
• exchange experiences with regard to monitoring and evaluation and discuss challenges in meeting international reporting requirements.
ECDC, Karolinska Institute and Nobel Prize winners debate HIV/AIDS prevention
On 8 December 2008, ECDC welcomed the joint winners of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Medicine , Professor Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Professor Luc Montagnier, to a scientific seminar. The prize had been awarded for their role in discovering the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which remains one of the world’s most difficult public health challenges. Senior experts from ECDC and Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute met with the two Nobel laureates to debate the challenges for HIV prevention.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TEAM’S WORK
- December 2009: ECDC marks World AIDS Day with a series of events
- December 2009: Publication of Surveillance Report ‘HIV/AIDS surveillance in Europe, 2008’
- October 2009: Technical consultation on HIV testing practices and barriers
- September 2009: Publication of Technical Report ‘Mapping of HIV/STI-related behavioural surveillance’
- August 2009: Launch of the STI microbiology project as part of the European STI surveillance network
- June 2009: Publication of ECDC Guidance ‘Chlamydia control in Europe’
- June 2009: Workshop to monitor the Dublin Declaration on partnership to fight HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia
- February 2009: training for STI surveillance and expert meeting on Chlamydia surveillance
- January 2009: Integration of STI surveillance network (former European Surveillance of STI network) into ECDC
- January 2009: Launch of the project on the Dublin Declaration on partnership to fight HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia
- December 2008: Publication of Surveillance Report ‘HIV/AIDS surveillance in Europe, 2007’
- May 2008: Publication of Technical Report ‘Review of Chlamydia control activities in EU countries’
- March 2008: training for HIV/AIDS surveillance for all 53 countries of the WHO European Region
- January 2008: Integration of HIV/AIDS surveillance network (former EuroHIV project) into ECDC and agreement on joint surveillance with WHO Regional Office for Europe
- April 2007: First country visit on HIV and STI to Estonia