World AIDS Day: Concern about the spread of HIV in Eastern Europe
On World AIDS Day (December 1), experts are warning of a renewed spread of the disease in Eastern Europe. "The rate of new infections is continuing to rise, particularly in Eastern Europe," said infectiologist Christoph Spinner from the Klinikum rechts der Isar at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). However, progress in the fight against HIV is being made in Africa. Worldwide, around 39 million people were living with HIV in 2022, and around 1.3 million people are newly infected with the immunodeficiency virus every year.
Spinner will assume the local congress chairmanship at the 25th World AIDS Conference in Munich from July 22 to 26 next year. More than 15,000 participants from over 175 countries are expected to attend the world's largest scientific meeting on HIV. Scientists, doctors, health experts and activists want to discuss ways to contain HIV and Aids.
In Germany, the number of new infections has been halved in the past 30 to 40 years, said Spinner - from almost 4,000 per year at the end of the 1980s to around 1,900 in 2023. The reasons are better education, low-threshold testing services and effective antiviral therapy, which enables a largely normal life and also protects against transmission of the virus. The availability of preventative medication, known as HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), is also likely to play a role. This has significantly reduced the number of new infections among homosexual and bisexual men.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the number of new HIV infections among heterosexuals and people who use intravenous drugs has not decreased - on the contrary, the numbers have even risen slightly in both groups. According to Spinner, around 520 people became infected through heterosexual means (310 women and 210 men), with a further 370 people becoming infected through intravenous drug use. No decline in new infections can be seen here, as HIV-PrEP is almost completely unknown in these groups.
In order to further reduce the number of new infections in Germany, homosexual and bisexual men outside of large cities, heterosexual people at risk and intravenous drug users outside of medical care need to be reached in particular.
Amidst global progress in the fight against HIV, particularly in Africa, where the number of people living with HIV has remained relatively stable and new infections have decreased, there's a concern about the resurgence of the disease in Eastern Europe as of December 1. Despite advancements in antiviral therapy and low-threshold testing services in Germany, the rate of HIV infections among heterosexuals and intravenous drug users has not decreased and even slightly increased, according to the Robert Koch Institute.
Source: www.dpa.com
