Europe’s HIV/AIDS epidemic “cause for concern”: ECDC Director Zsuzsanna Jakab comments on article in journal Eurosurveillance

Situation in the EU: number of newly diagnosed cases falls in Baltics but rises in Western Europe

An article published today by Dr. Anthony Nardone of the EuroHIV project shows the number of newly diagnosed cases of HIV infection in Europe remains worryingly high. In Europe as a whole the epidemic continues to be particularly serious in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Within the European Union, the latest data show the largest relative increase in newly diagnosed HIV cases being reported in the “EU15 countries” with a marked decrease in new diagnoses being reported in the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia): the number of newly diagnosed cases reported in the Baltic States in 2004 was down by 49% relative to data for 2001. Since 2001 in the European Union, the number of cases increased by 48% among heterosexually infected people, with an important proportion originating from countries with generalised epidemics (principally in Africa), and 35% among men having sex with men. Commenting on Dr. Nardone’s article Zsuzsanna Jakab, Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said: “The latest data from EuroHIV make grim reading. The continuing high numbers of newly diagnosed HIV cases in Europe and the changing nature of the epidemic show that ongoing surveillance and analysis of the data are crucial. However it is necessary to use these findings to better target Europe’s prevention efforts and revitalise the fight against this insidious disease. Improving our knowledge of the epidemic in Europe and of the kind of measures that are effective in protecting the at-risk groups will be priorities for ECDC in 2006 and beyond. Similarly we have to increase our vigilance against issues such as the emergence of drug resistant strains of HIV Official data compiled by EuroHIV show that in 2004 a total of 71,755 new HIV cases were reported in 52 countries making up the WHO’s European Region – nearly double the number of new diagnoses reported in 1999 – with the EU countries accounting for 21,164 of these new cases. The number of new HIV diagnoses reported in the EU has increased by nearly a quarter in the past four years. In the wider WHO European Region, the number of newly diagnosed infections remains high, though annual totals have changed little. New diagnoses of infection among injecting drug users across Europe have declined since 2001, with notable exceptions to this trend in the former Soviet states of Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. However, transmission category reports of newly diagnosed cases due to heterosexual sex have increased by 48%, mostly because of infections among persons originating from countries with generalised epidemics (principally African countries). Transmission category reports of newly diagnosed cases increased by 35% among homosexual and bisexual men. The full text of Dr. Nardone’s article in Eurosurveillance can be seen at: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ew/2005/051124.asp#1 You can read the full EuroHIV Surveillance Report for 2004 at: http://www.eurohiv.org/reports/index_reports_eng.htm With the table of statistics by country and by European region (western, central, eastern, EU) being available at: http://www.eurohiv.org/reports/report_71/pdf/tables_eurohiv_71.pdf If you are interested in organising an interview with either Dr. Anthony Nardone of EuroHIV or Dr. Andrea Ammon, Head of Disease Surveillance at ECDC, please contact: Ben Duncan, ECDC Press Spokesman OR Email: ben.duncan@ecdc.eu.int Tel: +46(0)708.597833 Johanna Mörk Email: Johanna@channel1.se Tel: +46(0)704.102129 Note to Editors: Background on ECDC, EuroHIV,Eurosurveillance, the Institut de Veille Sanitaire and the Health Protection Agency European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is a new EU agency tasked with reinforcing Europe’s defences against infectious diseases by fostering cooperation between national public health authorities. It became operational in May 2005 and has its headquarters in Stockholm (Solna), on the campus of the Karolinska Institute. Its Director, Mrs. Zsuzsanna Jakab, took up office in March 2005. Immediately prior to becoming Director of ECDC Mrs. Jakab was the senior civil servant at Hungary’s Ministry of Health and between 1991 and 2002 she was a Director in WHO Europe. EuroHIV was established in 1984 with joint funding from the European Commission and the Institute de Veille Sanitaire (InVS) and co-ordinates the surveillance of HIV/AIDS in the 52 countries of the WHO European Region. EuroHIV aims to better understand HIV/AIDS in Europe by improving and sharing surveillance data and to better inform disease prevention, control and care by the timely collation and analysis of data. Eurosurveillance is an open-access scientific journal covering infectious disease issues from a European perspective. It publishes a weekly on-line release with news on disease outbreaks and disease control developments and a monthly online release containing longer scientific papers and analysis (see http://www.eurosurveillance.org). The journal has recently concluded a strategic partnership with ECDC under which Eurosurveillance will weely epidemiological data, including outbreak reports, from the Centre. Eurosurveillance was founded in 1995 with financial support from the European Commission, the Institute de Veille Sanitaire (InVS) and the UK’s Health Protection Agency. Institut de Veille Sanitaire (InVS) is the French national institute for public health surveillance. Reporting to the Ministry of Health, InVS is responsible for monitoring the health status of the entire French population and alerting public authorities of threats to public health as well as hosting a number of European projects. For further information see http://www.invs.sante.fr/ The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is a UK government authority established in 2003. Its role is to provide an integrated approach to protecting UK public health through the provision of support and advice to all levels of government in the UK, the National Health Service (NHS), emergency services, and other relevant public bodies. For further information see: http://www.hpa.org.uk/