Undiagnosed HIV rising in Eastern Europe, Central Asia

STOCKHOLM: The EU’s disease control agency and the WHO on Thursday called for better HIV testing to spot cases early following rising undiagnosed cases especially in Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia. Early detection of the virus that causes AIDS mitigates the impact on the patient and prevents further spread.

A report by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional office for Europe showed that in 2019, more than 136,000 cases of HIV were diagnosed across the WHO European region, with 80 percent of cases in its eastern parts.

The WHO’s European Region comprises 53 countries and includes Russia and several countries in Central Asia. The report did however not include data from member states Andorra, Belgium, Monaco, North Macedonia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.