By Muhammad Amaan
Hepatitis, HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis and gonorrhoea have continued to pose challenges for health systems in Europe, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said.
The new ECDC report shows most countries are either at risk of not reaching the UN SDGs targets by 2030, or lack sufficient data to measure their progress.
The SDGs aim to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages by 2030.
Although these diseases are preventable, they reportedly lead to numerous cases of illness and nearly 57,000 deaths annually in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA).
The elimination of the AIDS and TB epidemics, as well as the fight against viral hepatitis are sub-goals to that.
The EU health authority based in Stockholm examined the extent European countries achieved their interim targets set for 2025 on the way to the goals.
The ECDC Director, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, said “these diseases are preventable, as is the burden they place on health systems, patients and their families.
“We have five years to act; we must make them count.”
According to the ECDC report, the estimated incidence of HIV and TB decreased during the study period but remains above the target value for 2025.
For viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections, there are no incidence figures, but the number of diagnoses of gonorrhoea, syphilis and acute hepatitis B reportedly increased in many EU and EEA countries.
The most significant increase was in newly reported gonorrhoea cases, as the numbers are the highest since 2009.
In the area of disease prevention, progress has been made, but the target specifications for 2025 have reportedly been missed.
Particularly effective prevention measures include the use of condoms, programmes that allowed the exchange of old syringes for new ones.
Others are hepatitis B vaccinations and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which is intended to protect people at increased risk of infection from contracting HIV.
