HIV Rising Fastest in Eastern Europe; Central Asia: UNICEF

(HN, August 16, 2010) - Confirming what has been observed for quite some time, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has identified the Eastern Europe and Central Asian regions as Ground Zero of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.Young people are disproportionately impacted by HIV AIDS in the region. Credit: UNICEF Ukraine

In a 68-page report titled Blame and Banishment, the authors blame drug abuse, high-risk sex and social stigma for increasing the incidence of HIV/AIDS.

The region has 3.7m drug users, nearly a quarter of the global total, an over 1 million street children, according to the report, which was released at the XVII International AIDS Conference in Vienna last month.

"Eastern Europe and Central Asia are the only parts of the world where the HIV epidemic remains clearly on the rise. Increases of up to 700 per cent in HIV infection rates have been found in some parts of the Russian Federation since 2006," says the report.

In the region, young people disproportionately bear the brunt of the epidemic: one third of new HIV infections are among the 15–24 age group and more than 80 per cent of people living with HIV are under 30 years old. Women now account for some 40 per cent of new cases compared to just 24 per cent under a decade ago,

Access to treatment is an enormous problem in the region. Only 24 percent of those in need of treatment In Eastern Europe and Central Asia receive it - the world's second lowest ratio of treatment coverage, said UNICEF Executive Director Tony Lake as the report was being released.

HIV and AIDS is growing faster in Ukraine and Russia than anywhere else outside Africa. According to UNAIDS, Ukraine has the most severe AIDS epidemic in Europe. If progress isn't stepped up soon, the adult prevalence rate could reach a staggering 3.5 per cent by 2014.