Reflecting on HIV and hepatitis C virus infections among injecting drug users in Europe on World Aids Day - Eurad

Reflecting on HIV and hepatitis C virus infections among injecting drug users in Europe on World Aids Day

Overall, a marked decrease in the number of reported newly diagnosed HIV infections due to injecting drug use has been observed in most of the EU/EEA countries; however, high or increasing numbers (in Bulgaria, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and Portugal) were still reported until 2010, reflecting continued transmission in the region. Recent outbreaks of HIV infection in 2011 in IDUs in Greece and Romania confirm a risk of new increases in countries so far less affected by the HIV epidemic in IDUs.

Data on newly diagnosed HIV infections and HIV prevalence in 2005 to 2010 suggest falling infection rates in injecting drug users (IDUs) in the European Union (EU). However, recent increases in HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection rates in IDUs suggest increasing injecting risks in some countries.Very high numbers and rates of newly diagnosed HIV infections continue to be reported from eastern European countries neighbouring those of the EU (e.g. Armenia, Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine).

The observed reduction in HIV infections among IDUs in the EU overall in the new millennium is mainly due to large decreases in some of the most affected large countries (in the western part of the EU), which may reflect the combined effects of marked increases in coverage of prevention measures, reductions in risk behaviour among IDUs, declines in the prevalence of injecting drug use (IDU population size) and saturation effects, where incidence naturally declines after explosive spread has reached most high-risk individuals.

The full report can be accessed here.

To read more about the decline in the prevalence of injecting drug use, referred to in this article, please refer to The State Of The Drugs Problem In Europe.