In a two-day conference organised in collaboration between the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union Conference and ECDC , HIV experts from across the European Union discussed how to reverse the HIV epidemic and how to prepare Europe to achieve the set target of ending AIDS by 2030.
Chlamydia infection, campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis, gonorrhoea and tuberculosis were the most commonly reported notifiable infectious diseases in the EU and EEA in 2014.
Almost 30 000 newly diagnosed HIV infections were reported by the 31 European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries in 2015, according to data published by ECDC and the WHO Regional Office for Europe. This is similar to the observed notification trends in the last decade. One reason for this persistent HIV epidemic: ECDC estimates that currently around 122 000 people living with HIV across the region are unaware of their infection. The estimated time between HIV infection and diagnosis is four years.
They are young and mostly female: with more than 3.2 million cases between 2005 and 2014, chlamydia remains the most commonly reported sexually transmitted infection (STI) across Europe. The updated ECDC guidance on chlamydia control in Europe makes the case for national chlamydia control strategies in the EU Member States and shows ways to develop, implement or improve national or local control activities.
On the occasion of World AIDS Day, ECDC and the WHO Regional Office for Europe launched the latest surveillance data on HIV and AIDS in the European Region. 2015 theme: Sex between men is still main transmission mode
With over 142 000 people newly diagnosed with HIV in 2014, the WHO European Region recorded the highest number of newly diagnosed infections in one year since the start of reporting in the 1980s. In the countries of the EU/EEA, the HIV epidemic also persists largely unchanged.
On 11 September, authorities in Valencia,Spain acknowledged that the case of Chikungunya reported 3 August 2015 is a false positive. Laboratory investigation conducted by the National Reference laboratory in Madrid did not confirm the initial results.