This report presents, for the 52 countries of the WHO European Region: - cases of newly diagnosed HIV infections and AIDS reported by 31 December 2004; - complementary information on annual numbers of diagnostic HIV tests performed and the AIDS case definition for surveillance purposes used in each country. Most data are presented and discussed within three geographic areas: the West, the Centre and the East (see Technical note) and also for the 25 countries of the European Union (EU). HIV data are shown in Tables 1-10; AIDS data in Tables 11-25. Time trends are illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 5-7 and geographic distributions in figures 3 and 4 (maps). Reporting of HIV diagnoses has become a key surveillance instrument for monitoring the HIV epidemic in Europe. It has progressively replaced AIDS surveillance which, since 1996 with the introduction and widespread use of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART), has become less reflective of the underlying trends in HIV infection. Although widely implemented in Europe, the coverage of HIV case reporting remains incomplete in western Europe where two of the most affected countries¿Italy and Spain¿have not yet implemented HIV reporting at national level. In countries with recently implemented or modified HIV reporting systems, reported HIV infections may include a large, but decreasing over time, proportion of prevalent infections diagnosed several years ago [see Table 1]. Surveillance data on reported HIV infections should be interpreted with further caution because they do not represent HIV incidence. These data include many individuals infected in previous years and depend on uptake of HIV testing and patterns of reporting, both of which may vary between countries and over time. To help interpret HIV reporting data, total numbers of HIV tests performed annually for diagnostic purposes (i.e. unlinked anonymous tests and blood donations excluded) are collected as background information on HIV testing patterns [Table 26]. Updated information on the AIDS case definition for surveillance purposes used in each country is presented in Table 27.
Année de publication
: 2005
Pages : 72 p.
