HIV and people over 50 years old in Europe.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to report on HIV and older people in the European Region, including new data stratified by subregion and year.

METHODS

Data were collected from the 2008 World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, Communicable Diseases Unit survey on HIV/AIDS and health systems.

RESULTS

It was found that 12.9% of newly reported cases of HIV infection in Western Europe in 2007 were in people aged 50 years or older. In Central Europe, almost one-in-10 newly reported cases of HIV infection were in older people, while the proportion in Eastern Europe was 3.7% in 2007.

CONCLUSIONS

The issue of HIV infection among older people is of increasing concern as more people age with HIV infection as a result of the availability of combination antiretroviral therapy.