A condition that has killed 44.1 million people worldwide so far risks becoming a threat again, undoing decades of progress. In Romania, the number of deaths between 1985-2024 exceeded 8,700.
Although the WHO, the Global Fund and UNAIDS (the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS) have set out to end the HIV pandemic by 2030, the human immunodeficiency virus remains a major public health problem, and the recent funding crisis may make matters worse. Transmission of the virus continues in all countries of the world, which has changed in decades of struggle for access to diagnosis, treatment and care of HIV patients as the infection has become a manageable chronic condition that allows people living with HIV to live long lives with a good quality of life.
To achieve the global goal of ending the HIV pandemic as a threat to public health by 2030, the international community, under the coordination of the World Health Organization and UNAIDS, has re-established clear benchmarks for the year 2025, known as the 95-95-95 targets, the National Institute of Public Health says on its website.
What does 95-95-95 mean? We want 95% of people living with HIV to be diagnosed, 95% of them to have access to antiretroviral treatment, and 95% of people on treatment to achieve viral load suppression.
More than 40 million people with HIV at the end of last year
“At the end of 2024, 40.8 million people were estimated to be infected with HIV, 65% of whom were in the WHO African Region. In the year 2024, about 630,000 people died of HIV-related causes and about 1.3 million people contracted HIV. Although medical advances have made it possible for HIV to be a manageable condition and modern treatment to enable a normal life, persistent barriers – such as discrimination, unequal access to health services and a lack of accurate information – continue to affect the global response to this epidemic.” emphasize the INSP representatives.
The progress recorded worldwide also has a counterpart in Romania, where in the last 30 years diagnosis, treatment and prevention have been constantly improved. Free access to antiretroviral therapies, expanding testing and improving community services contribute to a better quality of life for people living with HIV, but in our country there are problems related to stigma, education and equitable access to health services.
HIV-AIDS in Romania, in numbers
INSP presented the figures regarding HIV/AIDS patients, provided by the Department for Monitoring and Evaluation of HIV/AIDS Infection of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases “Prof. Dr. Matei Balș”, and according to them, on December 31, 2024, the number of patients with HIV/AIDS alive was 18,768.
In 2024, 810 people were detected and 193 deaths were recorded this year as well.
In almost 40 years since there are data that HIV infections have occurred in our country, a cumulative 28,793 cases of HIV/AIDS have been registered. Of these, HIV cases from 1992-2024 are 9,912, while the total number of AIDS cases (cumulative 1985-2024) reached 18,881.
In the period 1985-2024, 8,749 deaths were registered in Romania, and on December 31, 2024, the number of people undergoing treatment and post-exposure prophylaxis was 16,464.
How HIV is transmitted in Romania
If in the first years after the fall of communism the specialists talk about an infection produced in connection with the health system, 35 years later the main ways of transmission in new cases, in Romania, are distributed as follows: unprotected heterosexual sex (59.38% of cases), unprotected sex among men who have sex with other men (30.49% of cases), injecting drug users (5.18% of cases).
December 1, World AIDS Day, came in 2025 with a message emphasizing shared responsibility.
“The theme of this year’s edition highlights the critical role of each actor in society – public institutions, health professionals, non-governmental organizations, the community and the media. According to the latest report by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), a historic funding crisis threatens to undo decades of progress unless radical changes are implemented in the funding mechanisms for HIV programs.” draws the attention of the INSP.
Sudden and large-scale cuts in funding by international donors to the countries most affected by HIV may compromise the fight to eradicate the epidemic, at a time when experts have made available a new drug recommended by the WHO to protect people at risk of HIV. It is an injectable drug that provides protection against infection for 6 months.
“Countries need to make radical changes in HIV programs and funding. The global response to HIV cannot rely on domestic resources alone. The international community must come together to close the funding gap, to support countries to close remaining gaps in HIV prevention and treatment services, to eliminate legal and social barriers and to empower communities to move forward”the INSP also points out, in the article on its own website.
If the worldwide objective for 2030 is the eradication of the HIV pandemic as a public health problem, Romania’s objective, according to the National Strategy for the surveillance, control and prevention of HIV/AIDS infection cases in the period 2022-2030, is to maintain the profile of a country with a low incidence of HIV infection.
