HIV diagnoses among people born in Ukraine reported by EU/EEA countries in 2022: impact on regional HIV trends and implications for healthcare planning
Juliana Reyes‐Urueña, Gaetano Marrone, Teymur Noori, Giorgi Kuchukhidze, Violetta Martsynovska, Larysa Hetman, Anton Basenko, Stela Bivol, Marieke J. van der Werf, Anastasia Pharris, on behalf of the EU/EEA HIV network
Abstract
Following Russia's invasion in 2022, over 4.1 million Ukrainians sought refuge in the EU/EEA. We assessed how this impacted HIV case reporting by EU/EEA countries. Ukrainian refugees constituted 10.2% (n = 2,338) of all 2022 HIV diagnoses, a 10-fold increase from 2021. Of these, 9.3% (n = 217) were new diagnoses, 58.5% (n = 1,368) were previously identified; 32.2% had unknown status. Displacement of Ukrainians has partly contributed to increasing HIV diagnoses in EU/EEA countries in 2022, highlighting the importance of prevention, testing and care.