Brief on HIV Epidemic Situation among MSM in Baltic States

In 2016, 29,444 people were diagnosed with HIV in all European Union (EU) countries. The average rate of HIV incidence is 5.7 new cases per 100 thousand people. The highest HIV incidence was registered in Latvia, Estonia and Malta, with the lowest incidence rates in Slovakia and Hungary. As in the previous years, the highest rate ofnew HIVcases was registered among men who have sex with men (MSM) — 40%, with heterosexual contacts ranking second and accounting for32% of new HIV cases. MSM account for 44% of new HIV cases in Finland, 36% in Sweden, and 74% in Poland. In the Baltic states, the highest HIV incidence rates are registered in Latvia — 18.5 new cases per 100 thousand people were detected in 2016 (while 17.4 new cases were registered in Estonia and 7.4 — in Lithuania). Besides, in terms of this indicator Latvia ranks first among allthe EU countries.