Europe is failing to check and deal with HIV early, with over half (54%) of all diagnoses in 2024 being made too late for optimum therapy. New information launched at this time by the European Centre for Illness Prevention and Management (ECDC) and the WHO Regional Workplace for Europe warns that this crucial testing failure, mixed with a rising variety of undiagnosed circumstances, is severely jeopardising the 2030 aim of ending AIDS as a public well being menace.
In accordance with the annual HIV/AIDS surveillance report, 105 922 HIV diagnoses have been made within the WHO European Area in 2024, masking 53 international locations in Europe and Central Asia. Whereas total reported numbers present a slight lower in comparison with 2023, the out there information counsel that testing and prognosis gaps stay. The excessive proportion of late diagnoses signifies that many individuals are usually not accessing life-saving antiretroviral therapy and healthcare early sufficient, which will increase the danger of growing AIDS, the danger of demise and onward HIV transmission.
Within the European Union and European Financial Space (EU/EEA), 24 164 HIV diagnoses have been reported, representing a fee of 5.3 per 100 000 folks. Key findings from the 2024 information present that 48% of HIV diagnoses within the EU/EEA are late. Intercourse between males stays the most typical mode of transmission within the EU/EEA (48%), however diagnoses attributed to heterosexual transmission are rising, accounting for practically 46% of the HIV diagnoses reported.
Within the EU/EEA, practically half of all diagnoses are made late. We should urgently innovate our testing methods, embrace community-based testing and self-testing, and guarantee fast linkage to care. We are able to solely finish AIDS if folks know their standing.”
Dr. Pamela Rendi-Wagner, ECDC Director
Throughout the WHO European Area 54% of diagnoses have been late, this proportion was highest amongst folks contaminated by means of heterosexual transmission (particularly males) and individuals who inject medication. Almost one in three HIV diagnoses in 2024 have been amongst folks born exterior the nation the place they have been recognized. Within the EU/EEA, migrants accounted for greater than half of latest diagnoses, highlighting the necessity for tailor-made, accessible, and culturally competent prevention and testing companies.
Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, stated: “Our information paints a blended image. Since 2020, HIV testing throughout the European Area has rebounded, leading to a better quantity of reported assessments and a corresponding rise in HIV diagnoses in 11 international locations in 2024. In 2024 alone, 105,922 folks have been recognized with HIV, with an total 2.68 million diagnoses reported since Eighties. Nevertheless, the variety of folks dwelling with undiagnosed HIV is rising, a silent disaster that is fueling transmission. We’re not doing sufficient to take away the lethal obstacles of stigma and discrimination that stop folks from looking for out a easy check. An early prognosis just isn’t a privilege however a gateway to an extended, wholesome life and the important thing to stopping HIV in its tracks.”
ECDC and WHO/Europe are calling for pressing efforts to routinize, normalize and scale up testing, together with wider entry to self-testing and community-based choices, which might attain individuals who don’t entry facility-based healthcare companies. The 2030 aim to finish AIDS as a public well being menace is inside attain, however provided that the European area acts now to remove the testing hole.
Digital occasion for World Aids Day
On World AIDS Day, 1 December 2025 at 15:30, ECDC invitations you to the net occasion ‘World AIDS Day 2025: Redefining the Journey’. Save the date, verify the agenda, and register now: World AIDS Day 2025 Digital Occasion. Through the occasion, the most recent information on HIV/AIDS from ECDC and the WHO Regional Workplace for Europe shall be mentioned. Be part of us as we discover easy methods to shut gaps in care, cut back stigma, and redefine what success appears like.
Supply:
European Centre for Illness Prevention and Management (ECDC)
