HIV spreading in Europe, but AIDS cases declining: study

STOCKHOLM, November 30, 2011 (AFP) - HIV infections continued to rise in Europe in 2010, but thanks to treatment the number of cases of full-blown AIDS has dramatically declined in recent years, according to a report published Wednesday. "The new data raises concern about the continuing transmission of HIV in Europe," the World Health Organisation's Europe office and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in their joint report, published a day before World AIDS Day.

Last year, 27,116 new cases of HIV infections were reported in the European Union and European Economic Area, which is an increase of around four percent from 2009, according to the report, which stressed that statistics from Austria and Liechtenstein had not been accessible.


"In contrast, the steady decrease of AIDS cases continued in 2010 with 4,666 reported cases in the EU/EEA region," it said, pointing out that that constituted a drop of almost 50 percent from 2004 and stressing the importance of early HIV detection for reining in the AIDS epidemic.

According to a United Nations report published last week, a record 34 million people worldwide lived with HIV last year, while improved treatment has meant that the number of AIDS-linked deaths has steadily dropped from a peak of 2.2 million in 2005 to 1.8 million last year.

According to that report, about half of those eligible for treatment are now receiving it, something that saved the lives of 700,000 people in 2010.

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