Nearly ⅔ of newly diagnosed HIV cases now occur in areas outside of high HIV prevalence countries, namely southern and eastern Africa. The study was conducted by UNAIDS and presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024) in Denver.

In 2022, just over half of the world’s people living with HIV (19.4 million, or 53%) were living in southern or eastern Africa, the 15 countries where national HIV prevalence is above 3.5%. At the same time, the study estimates that 62% of the 770 000 new cases occurred in countries with lower HIV prevalence (less than 3.5%), namely Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. According to the study, these countries have 7% higher rates of vertical HIV transmission compared to countries with higher prevalence, as well as the mortality rate. 

Following factors are the reasons for this situation:

• lack of political prioritization of the issue
• insufficient access to prevention and HIV treatment
• low level of awareness

The latest data on the geographical distribution of new HIV cases is not only an important discovery, but also poses new challenges to the global community and calls for the strengthening of key steps in the fight against the epidemic worldwide.