2023-11-29 06:16:42
World AIDS Day: Concern about the spread of HIV in Eastern Europe
As the world marks World AIDS Day on December 1st, experts are sounding the alarm about a resurgence of HIV infections in Eastern Europe. Despite the focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, the fight against AIDS is far from over, with concerns about the increasing number of new infections in certain regions of Europe.
Infectiologist Christoph Spinner from the Rechts der Isar Clinic at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) warned that the rate of new infections continues to rise, particularly in Eastern Europe. This stands in contrast to progress made in the fight against HIV in Africa, where around 39 million people were living with HIV in 2022, with approximately 1.3 million new infections occurring annually.
Spinner, who will take over the local conference chairmanship at the 25th World AIDS Conference in Munich next year, highlighted the need for continued efforts to contain HIV and AIDS. The conference is expected to bring together more than 15,000 participants from over 175 countries to discuss strategies for combating the disease.
In Germany, there has been significant progress in reducing the number of new infections, particularly among homosexual and bisexual men. The availability of preventive medication, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), has played a role in reducing new infections in these groups. However, there has been no noticeable decline in the number of new HIV infections among heterosexuals or people who use intravenous drugs, with the numbers even increasing slightly in these groups.
To further reduce new infections in Germany, experts emphasize the need to reach out to homosexual and bisexual men outside of large cities, heterosexual people at risk, and intravenous drug users outside of medical care.
As World AIDS Day draws attention to the ongoing threat of HIV and AIDS, experts stress the need for continued efforts to combat the disease, particularly in regions where infections are on the rise.]
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