Substantial impact of the HIV pandemic on migrant populations in Europe

An increasing and disproportionate share of the newly diagnosed HIV infections in Europe – at least in the west – is in migrants, especially in those from sub-Saharan Africa. This was the main conclusion of an analysis of European HIV case reporting data, presented to the XIV International AIDS conference in Barcelona last week (7-12 July 2002) (1). Migrant populations are often highly vulnerable to HIV infection and may experience strong barriers to prevention and care (2).