This report, prepared jointly with the WHO Regional Office for Europe, presents data on HIV and AIDS for the whole European Region. Analyses are provided for the EU and EEA region, and also by geographical/epidemiological division of the WHO European Region.
The number of people living with undiagnosed HIV is increasing in the WHO European Region. According to data published today by ECDC and the WHO/Europe, more than 136 000 people were newly diagnosed in 2019 – roughly 20% of these were diagnosed in the EU/EAA and 80% in the eastern part of the European Region. Every second HIV diagnosis (53%) happens at a late stage of the infection, when the immune system has already started to fail. This is a sign that testing strategies in the Region are not working properly to diagnose HIV early.
HIV infection remains a major public health concern in EU/EEA countries, with approximately 30 000new infections reported each year. In contrast, the overall number of AIDS cases has continued tosteadily decline thanks to the growing use of effective antiretroviral treatment.
In the EU/EEA, almost every second HIV diagnosis happened at a late stage in 2018. This means diagnosis several years after infection. In 2018, 49 % of those with a CD4 cell count reported at HIV diagnosis were diagnosed late (several years after infection).