When it comes to combating the HIV virus (HIV), Europe and Central Asia are at risk of missing the United Nations’ 2025 targets. As the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) announced, only 83 percent of those infected in this region are currently aware of their infection. Of these, only 85 percent are receiving treatment, and in 93 percent of them the virus is under control, it said.
However, the declared goal of the UN Program to Combat AIDS (UNAIDS) is for all three values to reach 95 percent by 2025.
In addition, the EU authority based in Solna, Sweden, complains that many HIV-positive people experience discrimination and even violence in everyday life. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia there are still states that punish the transmission of the pathogen or the concealment of the infection. The World Health Organization (WHO) also includes states such as Israel and Turkey as well as Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the Europe region.
As one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the UN aims for “a healthy life for all people” – and as a sub-goal also the elimination of HIV and the immunodeficiency disease AIDS caused by the virus by 2030. The ECDC reports, which are based on data from the Based on the year 2022, indicate that achieving this sub-goal is unrealistic.
Problems with pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)
The health authority also complains about the use of so-called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP): taking such preparations is intended to protect people with an increased risk of infection from HIV infection. But PrEP medication is available in only 38 of the 55 states, it says, and only 15 states are reimbursed.
The ECDC also surveyed 3,272 HIV-infected people in the WHO Europe region about their social situation. The fear of stigmatization is sometimes so great that 30 percent of those surveyed kept their HIV status secret from their family, and 22 percent even kept it secret from their sexual partners. 15 percent of participants said they had been threatened, insulted or physically harmed by people outside their family and circle of friends in connection with their HIV status.
In Germany, 97 percent of people living with an HIV diagnosis are on antiviral therapy. However, it is estimated that only around 90 percent of those infected with HIV in this country know about their infection, it is said. In total, around 2.6 million people live with the HIV virus in the WHO Europe region. In 2021, the HIV pathogen was newly diagnosed in around 106,500 people.
