On the World AIDS Day, the European Union and its Member States released a statement in which joins with people across the world in memory of the relatives, friends and beloved ones who have lost their lives to AIDS and reaffirms its commitment to support all those who live with HIV and all those who are affected by the epidemic. In addition, they reiterates the EU commitment to work towards the 2015 targets of having 15 million people living with HIV on antiretroviral treatment.

It has been 30 years since the world learned about HIV and AIDS. On World AIDS Day, 1 December, the EU and its Member States made a joint statement in which they affirm that the EU will play a decisive role by strengthening its leadership in the response to HIV and AIDS and by better aligning the EU institutional response to the changing context of HIV at the global and European level. In addition, they reiterate the EU commitment to work towards the 2015 targets of having 15 million people living with HIV on antiretroviral treatment, halving sexual transmission, halving transmission of HIV among people who inject drugs, eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and substantially reducing AIDS related maternal deaths. Last year, on the World AIDS Day, the European Commission insisted in the importance of acting in prevention and early detection of this disease.

However, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, HIV transmission shows no sign of declining in Europe. The ECDC released a publication on the HIV/AIDS surveillance in Europe 2010. The new data raises concern about the continuing transmission of HIV in Europe, as newly diagnosed HIV infections are still on the increase. In 2010, 27.116 newly diagnosed HIV infections were reported across the EU/EEA indicating an increase of around 4%. In contrast, the steady decrease of AIDS cases continued in 2010 with 4.666 reported cases in the EU/EEA region.

The EU emphasizes that prevention is the most efficient way to stop the HIV epidemic, says to the joint statement. Members States need to ensure that the prevention strategies are evidence and rights-based and comprehensive, build on understanding of local context, and always in full respect of human rights, with scaling up the use of existing prevention methods and promoting the use of new prevention methods and technologies.