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Sexually transmitted diseases

HIV/AIDS

Over 50 000 people a year are diagnosed with HIV in the EU and neighbouring countries. Effective treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections exists but there is still no cure, nor a preventive vaccine. That is why EU policy focuses on prevention, and support for people living with HIV/AIDS.

The EU helps by strengthening cooperation between national authorities, civil society and stakeholders across Europe.

HIV/AIDS policy

The 2009 Commission communication on combating HIV/AIDS in the EU and neighbouring countries identifies policies to help reduce the number of new infections and improve the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS.

The Communication was translated in Russian by AIDS Action Europe and is available on their website.

The EU policies involve providing political support to authorities and stakeholders in EU countries and neighbouring countries to:

  • improve access to prevention, treatment, care and support
  • reach migrants from countries with a high prevalence of HIV
  • improve policies targeting the populations most at risk.

An action planpdf(31 KB) explains how the EU, civil society, international organisations and stakeholders will achieve this.

Health programme

Implementation of policy on HIV/AIDS is funded through the EU health programme Choose translations of the previous link български (bg) čeština (cs) dansk (da) Deutsch (de) eesti keel (et) ελληνικά (el) español (es) français (fr) italiano (it) latviešu valoda (lv) lietuvių kalba (lt) magyar (hu) Malti (mt) Nederlands (nl) polski (pl) português (pt) română (ro) slovenčina (sk) slovenščina (sl) suomi (fi) svenska (sv) . The Executive Agency for Health and Consumers (EAHC) provides a comprehensive list of HIV/AIDS projects funded since 2003 Choose translations of the previous link български (bg) čeština (cs) dansk (da) Deutsch (de) eesti keel (et) ελληνικά (el) español (es) français (fr) italiano (it) latviešu valoda (lv) lietuvių kalba (lt) magyar (hu) Malti (mt) Nederlands (nl) polski (pl) português (pt) română (ro) slovenčina (sk) slovenščina (sl) suomi (fi) svenska (sv) .

Surveillance

The 2008 epidemiology report on HIV/AIDSpdf(7 MB) is the result of monitoring by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and WHO Europe. The ECDC and Commission also cooperate on specific monitoring projects, e.g. on implementation of the Dublin declaration on fighting HIV/AIDS in the EU and Central Asia.

Cooperation

The Commission has set up two bodies to help with policy implementation and strengthen cooperation among countries, civil society and international organisations:

  • HIV/AIDS Think Tank is a forum with representatives of EU Member States and neighbouring countries to exchange information and to strengthen cooperation.
  • HIV/AIDS Civil Society Forum is a group of major European networks and NGOs, advising the Think Tank on policy formulation and implementation.

Both groups meet twice a year.