To tie in with World AIDS Day, experts have been taking stock of the spread of the epidemic, and are particularly worried about rates of infections among immigrants in Germany.

The German AIDS Foundation supports projects such as this one in Soweto

Despite the horrific annual death toll from HIV/AIDS of more than three million people worldwide, there have been some glimmers of hope recently, activists in Europe say.

The brightest ray comes from public education campaigns that are starting to gain traction in some of the world's poorest nations.

An epidemic in slow motion

Ben Plumley, acting director of the U.N. programme UNAIDS, noted at a recent symposium in Berlin that the rate of new infections has been falling sharply in some of the worst-affected African nations. That suggested sexual practices were changing, he said.

"AIDS is an epidemic in slow motion, and southern Africa is the epicentre," he said.

Germany spends 300 million euros (350 million dollars) annually to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and other continents, using a two-pronged approach of treating the sick and educating the healthy on how to avoid infection.

A shocking rise

It is all the more shocking to Germans that infections continue rise at home, despite well-funded education programmes, the widespread distribution of condoms and the availability of therapy paid from public health funds.

1 December is World Aids Day

In the first half of this year, the rate of new infections in Germany shot up by 20 per cent, mainly among homosexual men.

The Robert Koch Institute, the German government's agency for infectious diseases, this week forecast 2,600 HIV infections for 2005, compared with 2,058 last year. An estimated 49,000 Germans, out of a total 82 million, are infected with HIV.

Health officials are especially concerned about the large number of homosexual men currently advertising on German websites for partners who do not take precautions.

Immigrants at risk

Immigrants have also been identified as a group at particular risk of contracting the virus and now form the second-largest category of HIV carriers in Germany.

"The means of prevention and the counselling don't get through to them as well, and they are far less informed about HIV and AIDS than Germans are," said Ulrich Heide, chairman of the German AIDS Foundation.

A detailed study has found that immigrants from eastern Europe were less informed about AIDS than immigrants from Africa.

Ulrich Heide, chairman of the German AIDS Foundation

"What was particularly shocking was that the length of time they had been in Germany had no evident influence on their awareness of the issue," said Heide.

German AIDS Foundation:
www.aids-stiftung.de

AIDS helplines in Germany:

• Berlin - 030/19411
• Frankfurt - 069-19411
• Hamburg - 040/19411
• Munich - 089-19411
• See also www.hiv-info.de

1 December 2005

Copyright DPA with Expatica

Subject: AIDS, HIV, World AIDS Day, German AIDS Foundation