Increase of new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men in Poland, 2000 to 2011

Re-emergence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM) has been observed in countries of western Europe, North America and Australia since the mid-1990s. We aimed to describe the trends in notification rate of HIV infection among MSM in Poland in order to provide evidence for further public health action. We performed a descriptive analysis of 2000-11 surveillance data, accounting for missing information on transmission category through multiple imputations. There were 9,286 new HIV diagnoses in Poland in 2000-11, ranging from 546 to 1,095 per year. A total of 6,896 cases were male, 1,943 female. For 5,615 (60.5%) new diagnoses, the transmission category was not reported; among the rest, MSM constituted 24.1% (n=885/3,671). The rate of new HIV diagnoses among MSM per million men increased from 2.5 in 2000 to 33.8 in 2011; in the Mazowieckie region, which includes Warsaw, it rose from 2.2 to 88.8, when adjusting for missing data on transmission category. Our results suggest the need for enhanced, comprehensive prevention among MSM, especially in regions where the increasing rate of new HIV diagnoses suggests ongoing transmission. .