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.