The World Bank warns that urgent action is needed to halt the explosion of HIV/AIDS in South-East Europe and the Balkans. The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region continues to experience the fastest-growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the world. Russia and Ukraine remain at the forefront of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in ECA, but many other countries are now experiencing rapidly emerging epidemics.
Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania share several social conditions that have led to a rapid increase in HIV infection, the report says. These include high unemployment and significant poverty, rapid social changes (including those related to post-conflict situations and emerging democracy), a decrease in the quality of health services and educational opportunities, increased substance abuse and commercial sex work, and high levels of population mobility. The epidemic, driven initially by a nosocomial (acquired in hospital) tragedy in Romania and also by the large numbers of youth who inject drugs throughout the region, now risks spreading more widely as high levels of sexually transmitted infections, increases in sexual risk behavior, and low levels of knowledge about HIV/AIDS set the stage for crossover to those who do not inject drugs.
The report released in July 2003 entitled "HIV/AIDS in Southeastern Europe: Case Studies from Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania" - reviews the status of the disease in those countries. It then evaluates anti-AIDS approaches in each, making recommendations for government strategies and for the Bank’s current and potential future involvement.
