European Commission warns of impending HIV/AIDS epidemic
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《英国医生杂志》
European governments must show strong political leadership if the continent is to avert a looming HIV/AIDS epidemic, the European Commission has warned.
In a report prepared for an international meeting of health ministers and AIDS experts in Vilnius, Lithuania, this week (16-17 September), the commission pointed out that the number of newly reported HIV cases in western Europe has doubled over the past nine years.
The estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS varies from 140 000 in France and 120 000 in Italy to just 1500 in Finland and a little more than 2000 in Norway. But the commission predicts that even in those countries which have to date been largely spared from HIV/AIDS, "high levels of drug related and unprotected sexual behaviour are the forerunners of emerging epidemics."
Among the 10 countries that joined the European Union in May, new cases of HIV infections have risen dramatically in the Baltic states. Prevalence of HIV is 1.0% in Estonia and 0.4% in Latvia, compared with an average for western Europe of 0.3%.
The situation is even more dramatic in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and other neighbouring countries. There, the rate of new infections is the highest in the world and, after a 50-fold increase in 10 years, one adult in every 100 in Russia and the Ukraine has HIV/AIDS.
Against this background, the commission insists that the main challenge is to prevent the slackening of safer sex practices; to improve access to HIV testing and health care for all, especially migrant and excluded populations; and to maintain prevention activities as a priority.
"Too often in the past, stigma and ignorance have fuelled the AIDS epidemic by driving the problem underground. This has been particularly devastating when political leaders have not acknowledged and confronted the HIV/AIDS threat in a timely manner," the report warns.
The commission is now looking for a major political initiative to develop a comprehensive regional European HIV/AIDS policy that will cover public health, drugs, trade, social protection, development, and external relations.
The commission is already preparing its own input into that strategy. In December, it is planning to develop an European Union-wide umbrella information campaign on HIV/AIDS, similar to its recent successful efforts to highlight the dangers of tobacco, and to target specific messages at different vulnerable groups.
The commission will soon be meeting representatives of industry and government to determine how public health systems, particularly in central and eastern Europe, can have access to affordable antiretroviral treatment.
Given that some 800 000 newborn babies contract HIV each year worldwide by vertical transmission, the commission will bring together experts in November to develop recommendations for best practice on the prevention of transmission from mother to child.
To encourage widespread cooperation to tackle the emerging epidemic and to establish an accurate picture of the threat, the commission will convene a meeting this autumn of national and international bodies to determine how a more comprehensive surveillance network can be put in place.(Brussels Rory Watson)
In a report prepared for an international meeting of health ministers and AIDS experts in Vilnius, Lithuania, this week (16-17 September), the commission pointed out that the number of newly reported HIV cases in western Europe has doubled over the past nine years.
The estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS varies from 140 000 in France and 120 000 in Italy to just 1500 in Finland and a little more than 2000 in Norway. But the commission predicts that even in those countries which have to date been largely spared from HIV/AIDS, "high levels of drug related and unprotected sexual behaviour are the forerunners of emerging epidemics."
Among the 10 countries that joined the European Union in May, new cases of HIV infections have risen dramatically in the Baltic states. Prevalence of HIV is 1.0% in Estonia and 0.4% in Latvia, compared with an average for western Europe of 0.3%.
The situation is even more dramatic in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and other neighbouring countries. There, the rate of new infections is the highest in the world and, after a 50-fold increase in 10 years, one adult in every 100 in Russia and the Ukraine has HIV/AIDS.
Against this background, the commission insists that the main challenge is to prevent the slackening of safer sex practices; to improve access to HIV testing and health care for all, especially migrant and excluded populations; and to maintain prevention activities as a priority.
"Too often in the past, stigma and ignorance have fuelled the AIDS epidemic by driving the problem underground. This has been particularly devastating when political leaders have not acknowledged and confronted the HIV/AIDS threat in a timely manner," the report warns.
The commission is now looking for a major political initiative to develop a comprehensive regional European HIV/AIDS policy that will cover public health, drugs, trade, social protection, development, and external relations.
The commission is already preparing its own input into that strategy. In December, it is planning to develop an European Union-wide umbrella information campaign on HIV/AIDS, similar to its recent successful efforts to highlight the dangers of tobacco, and to target specific messages at different vulnerable groups.
The commission will soon be meeting representatives of industry and government to determine how public health systems, particularly in central and eastern Europe, can have access to affordable antiretroviral treatment.
Given that some 800 000 newborn babies contract HIV each year worldwide by vertical transmission, the commission will bring together experts in November to develop recommendations for best practice on the prevention of transmission from mother to child.
To encourage widespread cooperation to tackle the emerging epidemic and to establish an accurate picture of the threat, the commission will convene a meeting this autumn of national and international bodies to determine how a more comprehensive surveillance network can be put in place.(Brussels Rory Watson)