The Algarve, as in 2019, had, in 2020 and 2021, the second highest rate of diagnosis of people with HIV infection (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) in the country, with 9,3 cases per 100 inhabitants.
The data are contained in the “HIV Infection Report in Portugal – 2022, which will be presented today by the Directorate-General for Health and the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge.
The document, which gathers data from 2020 and 2021, shows how the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon is the one with the highest proportion of new cases (880, which is equivalent to 15,3 infections per 100 inhabitants).
In absolute terms of new cases, however, the Algarve appears much less prominent, with 84 new cases of HIV infection (aged 15 years or older) diagnosed in 2020 and 2021, being surpassed by Lisbon (880), North ( 421) and Center (286).
By district, the analysis of the rates of new diagnoses by district revealed that the three districts with the highest rates were: Lisbon (16,6 cases/105 inhabitants), Faro (9,7 cases/105 inhabitants) and Setúbal (9,2 cases/105 inhabitants).
In the last report, for 2019, the Algarve recorded a total of 59 cases, which is equivalent to 13,5 infections per 100 inhabitants.
Despite everything, data on HIV infection, which, if not treated, can lead to AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome), continue to be encouraging in Portugal.
The number of new cases dropped again in 2020 and 2021 (1803 in total), maintaining the downward trend that had already been observed since 2000. In other words, the year 1999 is long gone, when 3358 were diagnosed in Portugal cases of HIV infection.
Thus, the report on the evolution of the infection in Portugal, which is presented in the week in which World AIDS Day is celebrated, reveals a 44% reduction in the number of new cases of HIV infection and a 66% reduction in new cases of AIDS between 2012 and 2021.
The DGS and INSA document also analyzes the rates of new cases of HIV infection at county level.
Although the three municipalities with the highest number of new cases are, in descending order, Lisbon, Sintra and Porto, Portimão is the one with the highest rate of new infections (31,2 cases per 100 inhabitants).
On the list are three more municipalities in the Algarve: Lagos, Albufeira and Faro.
At national level, the majority (71,8%) of new cases of infection in adolescents and adults (≥ 15 years) were registered in men (2,5 cases for each case in women) and the median age at the time of diagnosis was 39 years.
In 63,6% of the new cases people were between 25 and 49 years old and in 27,6% they were 50 years old or older. In the period under review, 4 cases of HIV infection in children were reported (2 in 2020 and 2 in 2021).
Although heterosexual transmission remains the most frequent (51,8%), cases in men who have sex with men corresponded to the majority of new diagnoses in men (56,0%).
With regard to deaths, 298 deaths in people living with HIV were reported (148 in 2020 and 150 in 2021). In 24,5% of deaths, the time elapsed since diagnosis was greater than 20 years.
Analyzing the accumulated data, from 1983 to 31 December 2021, 64 257 cases of HIV infection were identified in Portugal, of which 23 399 reached the stage of AIDS and 15 555 died.
This report is the result of collaborative work between DGS, INSA, SPMS, hospitals and their professionals, based on a process of recovering overdue notifications of new cases of HIV infection, following the constraints that marked the pandemic.
Click here to see the report “HIV infection and AIDS in Portugal – 2020 and 2021” in full (PDF).
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