Following an invitation from Greek authorities, ECDC Director Marc Sprenger and experts from the ECDC Programmes for Sexually Transmitted Infections including HIV and blood-borne infections and Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-associated Infections will visit Greece on 29 and 30 November 2012.

The purpose of this ECDC visit is to discuss the current situation regarding HIV, antimicrobial resistance and vector-borne diseases in Greece with the experts from the Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO) and the Greek Deputy Minister of Health.

ECDC will present the key findings from an in-depth assessment of the overall HIV situation in Greece and, in particular, the on-going outbreak of HIV among people who inject drug in Athens. Possible ways to scale up interventions to prevent onwards transmission among people who inject drugs will be discussed. ECDC has assisted the Greek authorities in their response to the HIV outbreak in the past months. The risk assessment will also be presented at public health conference on 30 November 2012 on the eve of World AIDS Day on 1 December.

Discussions with the KEELPNO experts will also include the challenges regarding the increasing antimicrobial resistance in Greece based on latest data on antibiotic resistance from EARS-Net, released on 16 of November 2012, on the occasion of the European Antibiotic Awareness Day. Discussions will also focus on the future collaboration of ECDC with KEELPNO and the provision of technical support for Greece’s fight against antimicrobial resistance. This comes after an invitation to ECDC by KEELPNO requesting technical support to help curb antimicrobial resistance.

ECDC as an agency of the European Union identifies, assesses and communicates current and emerging risks of communicable diseases to European Union citizens. Management of these risks as well as of the factors that contribute to control infectious diseases are under the responsibility of each EU Member State. ECDC can provide scientific advice and technical support to a country upon request of the Member State.

Read more:

 Joint ECDC-EMCDDA rapid risk assessment: HIV in injecting drug users in the EU/EEA, following a reported increase of cases in Greece and Romania

Joint ECDC–EMCDDA guidance on prevention and control of infectious diseases among people who inject drugs

ECDC meeting report Detecting and responding to outbreaks of HIV among people who inject drugs: best practices in HIV prevention and control

ECDC’s Guidance on HIV testing

Eurosurveillance: HIV-1 outbreak among injecting drug users in Greece, 2011
http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19962

Eurosurveillance: Trends in HIV and hepatitis C virus infections among injecting drug users in Europe, 2005 to 2010

Multidrug antibiotic resistance increasing in Europe

Antimicrobial resistance surveillance in Europe 2011

Summary of the latest data on antibiotic consumption in the European Union

European Antibiotic Awareness Day 2012 - Antibiotics infographic

European Antibiotic Awareness Day – EAAD

Multidrug-resistant, extensively drug-resistant and pandrug-resistant bacteria: an international expert proposal for interim standard definitions for acquired resistance

Risk assessment on the spread of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE)

Epidemiological update: Malaria in Greece, 20 July 2012

Epidemiological update: Possible local transmission of dengue virus in Greece, 6 September 2012