EU-Conferentie bezorgd over stijging AIDS-besmettingen in Oost-Europa (en)

The Irish EU Presidency will today (23 February) host a conference to examine the spread of HIV and Aids in Europe and explode the myth that it is a problem that only other regions, such as Africa, must face.

Attended by health ministers and Aids experts from throughout Europe, delegates will be told that countries such as Estonia and Latvia - which are joining the EU on 1 May - have some of the fastest epidemics in the world.

Irish development minister Tom Kitt said "Today's meeting is designed to bring home the fact that HIV/AIDS is a global problem".

"Africa is bearing the brunt of the epidemic, but other regions also face a serious challenge. UNAIDS statistics show that the European and Central Asian region now has the fastest growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the world".

The countries with the highest Aids infection rate are Russia, Ukraine, Estonia and Latvia, according to figures released by the Irish Presidency.

Similarly, a report released last Tuesday by the UN Development Program (UNDP) found that the countries most affected were Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldavia.

"It is too late to speak of avoiding a crisis in eastern Europe and the CIS (former Soviet Asian republics)", said the report

The two-day ministerial conference will be opened by Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern and include UNAIDS executive director Peter Piot, World Health Organization head Lee Jong-Wook and Carol Bellamy, director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Speaking ahead of the conference, Dr. Piot warned that "European ministers must urgently scale up and roll out effective HIV prevention and treatment programmes".

"Given that the EU will form the biggest trading bloc in the world, covering more than 500 million people, it is in the EU's best interest to prevent the Aids epidemic from crippling Europe's social and economic development".

Current estimates say that about 40 million people globally are living with HIV/Aids with over 27 million in Africa and around 2.1m people in Europe and Central Asia.