The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has published its latest Annual Epidemiological Reports shedding light on the state of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA).
In a series of reports released by ECDC, a concerning rise in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) across Europe has been revealed indicating troubling trends and significant public health implications.
Since the onset of Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine on 24 February 2022, and as of 11 April 2022, more than 4 million Ukrainian people have fled to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and the Republic of Moldova.
A new report published jointly by ECDC and WHO, shows a 24% drop in the rate of newly diagnosed HIV cases between 2019 and 2020. This drop is largely due to reduced HIV testing during 2020 as a result of COVID-19 restrictions and disruptions to services.
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.
Many women in the WHO European Region, particularly those in their 40s, are diagnosed at a late stage of HIV infection when their immune system is already starting to fail. They are three to four times more likely to be diagnosed late than younger women. According to data for 2018 released today by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the WHO Regional Office for Europe, women accounted for one-third of the 141 000 new HIV diagnoses in the Region, indicating that this population needs more attention in Europe's prevention and testing efforts.
Targeted testing is an essential element of any strategy to eliminate viral hepatitis across the countries in the European Union and European Economic Area. Some preliminary monitoring results on the response to hepatitis B and C presented around World Hepatitis Day show that diagnosing chronic infections is still a challenge in the EU/EEA.