High levels of post-migration HIV acquisition within nine European countries. AIDS
Alvarez-del Arco et al. on behalf of the Advancing Migrant Access to Health Services in Europe (aMASE) study team aimed to estimate the proportion of post-migration HIV acquisition among HIV-positive migrants diagnosed with HIV in the preceding 5 years from different geographic origins living in any of the nine European Union and the European Economic Area countries participating in aMASE.
Of 2’009 participants, 46% were men who have sex with men (MSM) and a third originated from sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America & Caribbean, respectively. Median age was 36 years and median time in host countries was 8 years. Post-migration HIV acquisition was 63%; 72% among MSM, 58 and 51% in heterosexual men and women, respectively. Post-migration HIV acquisition was 71% for Latin America and Caribbean migrants and 45% for people from sub-Saharan Africa. Factors associated with post-migration HIV acquisition among heterosexual women and MSM were younger age at migration, a longer length of stay in host country and a more recent HIV diagnosis year; and among heterosexual men a longer length of stay in host country and a more recent HIV diagnosis year.
In conclusion, the high level of post-migration HIV acquisition provides strong evidence of inadequate HIV prevention for migrants across Europe and helps to further identify which subgroups are more at risk. Interventions – soon after migration into host countries – need to tackle migrants’ vulnerabilities to HIV infection and recognize them as a priority group within primary and secondary HIV prevention strategies.