The facts that come to light regarding the course of HIV/AIDS infection, as shown by a report by the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC), are not the only encouraging ones.
More than one in 10 Greeks who are infected with the HIV virus do not know that they are carriers. In addition, at least 15% of those who know they are carriers do not receive treatment.
But even among those who are treated, few achieve viral suppression. In fact, less than 35% have viral loads low enough to keep their immune systems functioning and avoid infections.
These data bring our country to a very low position within the European Union (EU) in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. We are, of course, also far behind in prophylactic treatment (PrEP) given to people at increased risk of HIV infection. But this is rather expected, given that it was only approved in our country in 2022 and it took a year to regulate the details of its grant.
As the ECDC explains, its new report is largely based on data it collected between February and August 2023. It was compiled to check whether EU and European Economic Area (EEA) member states are close to the targets they have set the United Nations Program on AIDS (UNAIDS).
These goals are to achieve the following by 2026:
95% of people living with HIV know their status
95% of those who live with the virus and know regarding it should take special (antiretroviral) treatment
95% of people living with the virus and taking antiretroviral therapy have achieved viral suppression
At EU/EEA level, the respective percentages that have been achieved in total are:
91% for operators who know their status
93% for those who treat
91% for treated carriers who achieved viral suppression
However, these percentages vary greatly from country to country. In addition, the EU is missing another target: to reduce new cases of HIV by 75% by 2025, compared to 2010.
In 2022 there were almost 18,000 new cases in the EU/EEA. That number is down 34% from 2010, so it’s still a long way off.
How many have been diagnosed
The ECDC report states that 26 countries provided it with data on the estimated number of people living with HIV infection who have been diagnosed. More than 778,000 carriers are estimated to live in these countries. Of these, 91% are diagnosed on average (ranging from 77% to 98%, depending on the country).
Only two countries (Romania and Austria) have passed the 95% target set by UNAIDS. Another 13 are less than 5% away from achieving him. Greece is in 20th place among the 26 countries, with a percentage close to 12%.
How many do therapy?
The report also states that of people who know they are HIV positive, more than 622,000 are receiving antiretroviral therapy. The average is 93%, but by country it varies from 47% to almost 100%.
In fact, nine of the 26 countries have exceeded the UNAIDS target of 95%. In Norway, for example, almost 100% of those who know they are carriers are treated. Another seven countries are up to 5% away from reaching the 95% target.
Greece belongs to the 10 countries that are far enough away. In fact, we are in 21st place, with a rate close to 83%.
How many have achieved viral suppression?
Where it gets really bad is how many HIV carriers are adequately controlling the virus. Only 23 countries provided this information to ECDC. The remaining seven did not even provide evidence.
In total across the 23 countries, 549,676 carriers of those receiving treatment have achieved viral suppression. This percentage corresponds to 91% of the total, but ranges from 32% to 99%. A total of 13 countries are at or above the 95% set by UNAIDS. In Iceland and Norway, for example, almost all HIV carriers have achieved viral suppression.
On the contrary in Greece, viral suppression has been achieved only in 32% of carriers. This rate puts us in last place among the 23 countries that provided data on the control of the virus.
If, however, this percentage is reduced to all institutions in our country (even those that do not provide treatment) then it decreases to 22%. The corresponding European average drops to 77%.
#Greeks #carriers #ECDC #figures #disappointing
