RKI
Preliminary estimate: 1,900 new HIV infections in Germany
At the Berliner Aids-Hilfe, the test strip on a rapid HIV test changes color after being used with the blood of a test person. photo
© Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
New HIV infections in Germany had been declining sharply for a long time. In one group they are currently stagnating, in others they are increasing slightly.
An estimated 1,900 people in Germany have taken part in the preliminary results According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), he was infected with HIV last year. Because data is still missing, the status is not yet final, the RKI announced on Thursday. Experts estimate the number of new HIV infections to be 1,800 in 2021.
According to the RKI, the number of new infections among men who have sex with men (MSM) has initially fallen significantly since 2007. In the last three years it has remained relatively stable and is currently around 1,000. There is no decline in the number of new HIV infections among heterosexuals and among people who use intravenous drugs, according to the report. On the contrary: the numbers actually increased slightly in both groups. According to the information, this is due, among other things, to the fact that heterosexuals who live with HIV or have an increased risk of infection are less concentrated in large cities than MSM. Outside the big cities, however, the test offering is worse.
The RKI explains the increase in drug users as follows: More and more users are taking drugs that do not belong to the opiate group. According to the RKI, there is no substitution therapy for these drugs. As a result, consumers have less contact with medical authorities and are tested less for HIV. The result: “HIV infections are discovered later and treated later, creating more opportunities for local infection clusters, which have been increasingly observed in recent years.”
RKI: HIV elimination without a vaccine “completely unrealistic”
The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a goal of ending HIV and AIDS by 2030, the report says. According to the RKI, achieving this is “difficult to imagine”. “HIV elimination from the human population is completely unrealistic unless a highly effective vaccine is available – and one is not in sight.” Stigmatized, criminalized and marginalized groups, which are particularly often affected by HIV, are often not reached by testing and treatment offers. In some cases there are simply no offers. In Germany, irregular migrants and people without health insurance are affected.
In an international comparison, however, Germany is still doing well. According to the RKI, the number of new infections is increasing in other countries – even sharply in Eastern Europe, especially in Russia. An epidemic of heterosexual contact is developing in parts of Eastern Europe. From the RKI’s perspective, this is due to the lack of effective prevention work among drug users.