Half of new HIV cases diagnosed in 2022 are immigrants

Infectious disease specialist Francisco Antunes on Tuesday called for action for immigrants in Portugal, who make up one of the most vulnerable populations to HIV, with half of new cases diagnosed in 2022.

“They are considered one of the most vulnerable groups of the population to HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections, with a much higher risk of infection than the general population,” said the doctor from the Institute of Environmental Health at the university’s Faculty of Medicine. Lisbon, who today presents the conference “HIV and immigration – double discrimination” at FNAC Chiado on the occasion of “40 years of AIDS in Portugal – AIDS 4.0”.

To combat this problem, he believes it is necessary to strengthen prevention, anticipate diagnoses and facilitate access to the national health system for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

“One of the arguments that has been used to denigrate the image of immigrants in relation to HIV infection is that they bring the infection from their countries of origin to Portugal”, but “this is not entirely true” because “between 25 and 50% of people become infected if they are in the destination country,” the doctor said.

In total, immigrants make up 5% of Portugal’s population, but this population accounts for half of all new HIV infections in 2022, for a total of 800 infections.

“Stigma and discrimination are currently major barriers to eliminating HIV as a public health problem by 2030, especially among more vulnerable populations such as immigrants,” he said.

Immigrants have “little knowledge about prevention, how to treat themselves and where to get treatment”, and the health service in Portugal, despite being one of the countries that deals with cases of people in illegal situations, is “very complex and has many obstacles.” for immigrants.

According to surveys, “in Portugal, only 15% of immigrants used a condom the last time they had sex” and 16% “knew their HIV status,” and this trend is similar in the rest of Europe.

“This immigrant group is diagnosed much later than other non-immigrant populations,” warned the doctor, who puts this population in the same vulnerable position as “men who have sex with men, transgender people and consumers injection drugs.”

But among immigrants, “because they don’t know about the infection, they don’t know what risks they’re taking,” the situation is made worse by the fact that they “are a population group at a very high risk of poverty, with a high risk of homelessness.” and mental health problems.”

The solution, he argues, involves “greater proximity” of the health care system to this population.

We must implement policies that will “bring these immigrants closer to the health care system, access to condoms, access to PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), access to diagnosis and treatment.”

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to engage the “capillarity” of various sectors covering these population groups, such as “street pharmacies, health centers, patient associations or patient-related communities.”

The aim is to “make access to the NHS easier, reduce bureaucracy and make it easier to navigate the system with local care, health centres, community pharmacies and patient associations”, he added.