The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
– Lifelong treatment –
New cases among young people, meanwhile, remained steady, averaging about 11.4 additional patients per 100,000 people each year from 2004 to 2015.
“Our findings illustrate a clear need to provide comprehensive HIV prevention programmes… targeted towards older adults across Europe,” Tavoschi said.
Among the measures needed are access to condoms, better testing opportunities — including self-testing kits — and fast-track treatment, she said in a statement.
“This should help to prevent further transmission and lower the risk of severe health complications, which is of utmost importance among older adults living with HIV as their risk of mortality is higher.”
In countries where the number of new HIV cases among older people rose from 2004 to 2015, the average annual rate of increase was highest in Lithuania (14.4 percent), Latvia (12.1 percent), the Czech Republic (12 percent), and Estonia (10.1 percent).
In other European countries the rate was Belgium (3.9 percent), Germany (8.1 percent), Ireland (5.4 percent) and Britain (3.6 percent).
By 2015, rates of new HIV infection were highest in Estonia (7.5 cases per 100,000 people), Latvia (7.17), Malta (7.15) and Portugal (6.0).
The country with the lowest incidence of new HIV cases among those 50 and older was Slovakia.
Since the AIDS epidemic erupted in the 1980s, 76.1 million people have been infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Some 35 million have died.
Last year, AIDS killed a million people and infected another 1.8 million, according to the United Nations.
Infections and deaths are on the decline, but the number of people living with HIV — requiring lifelong treatment — continues to grow.
