The number of newly diagnosed
HIV infections in Europe hit a record level in 2014, the
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said
on Thursday.
A total of 142,000 people were newly diagnosed with HIV
last year, the highest figure since reporting began in the
1980s.
"The HIV response in the EU/EEA has not been effective
enough to result in a noticeable decline over the last decade",
ECDC Acting Director Andrea Ammon said.
The data showed that rates of HIV diagnoses have more than
doubled in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta and
Slovakia, and have increased by more than 50% in Poland.
Infections that occur as a result of homosexual relations
now account for 42% of newly diagnosed cases, up from 30% in
2005.
Ammon said European authorities needed to boost awareness
and evaluate new measures such as pre-exposure prophylaxis,
which involves people taking antiretroviral medications before
their potential exposure to HIV, in the hope that it lowers
their risk of infection.
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