HIV testing rates fall in Europe due to COVID, eradication goal threatened

LONDON — The number of people in Europe with undiagnosed HIV has risen as testing rates fell during the COVID-19 pandemic, threatening a global goal of ending the disease by 2030, a report said.

The joint World Health Organization (WHO) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) report said that in 2021 a quarter fewer HIV diagnoses were recorded compared to pre-pandemic levels in the WHO’s European region.

This region includes Russia and Ukraine, which have the area’s highest rates of HIV infection.

This setback was likely because services related to HIV, including testing, were sidelined in many European countries during the two years of the pandemic, …

Keep on reading: HIV testing rates fall in Europe due to COVID, eradication goal threatened