HIV is a virus which attacks the immune system and causes a lifelong severe illness with a long incubation period. The end-stage of the infection, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), results from the destruction of the immune system.
On 15 September 2023, Dr. Andrea Ammon attended the High Level Meeting on "HIV and Human Rights: political action to achieve zero stigma" which took place in Seville.
To improve the understanding of experienced HIV stigma in the community, ECDC initiated an exploratory survey in 2021 to measure HIV-related stigma across Europe and Central Asia.
This evidence brief summarises the progress towards UN Sustainable Development Goal 3.3 to ‘eliminate the epidemic of AIDS’ in Europe and Central Asia.
Progress towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 is variable across the region, and most countries in Europe and Central Asia are currently far from achieving the 2025 targets.
You may know a bit already about PrEP - the pill one takes daily or on demand, to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV. But did you know there is also PEP - the post-exposure prophylaxis - that is used after one may have been exposed to the HIV virus.
By 2021, 48 of 55 countries in Europe and Central Asia provided data on at least one stage of the continuum of HIV care (compared to 40 countries in 2018). A total of 47 countries were able to provide data for at least two consecutive stages of the continuum (compared to 45 in 2020) and 40 countries provided data on all four stages.
HIV continues to affect the health and wellbeing of people in Europe. In 2020, 14,971 new HIV diagnoses were reported in 29 countries of the EU/EEA. This video explain how we can reduce these numbers
