HIV Testing and New HIV Diagnoses in Paris: 2018 Data

Santé publique France has released the latest available data on HIV testing and new HIV diagnoses in Paris in 2018.

Increase in annual HIV testing activity and decrease in the positivity rate

While there was a 16% increase in annual HIV testing activity across all Parisian laboratories (public and private) between 2015 and 2018, the proportion of positive test results decreased from 6.2 positive tests per 1,000 in 2015 to 5.1 per 1,000 in 2018.

Decrease in the number of new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men (MSM) born in France

The number of people who discovered their HIV-positive status in Paris decreased by 16% between 2015 and 2018 (from 1,078 to 906 people). This decrease is 28% among MSM born in France. However, this decrease is not significant among MSM born abroad or among heterosexuals, whether born in France or abroad.

These results are encouraging and could be explained by a decline in incidence and/or a decrease in the number of people living with HIV who are unaware of their HIV status.

These data will be presented by the City of Paris’s “Toward an AIDS-Free Paris” initiative and the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency (ARS) at the Fast Track Cities global conference taking place September 8–11 in London.

The Fast-Track Cities Initiative and the Paris Declaration

The Fast-Track Cities initiative (Cities Without AIDS) was launched in 2014 as part of the UNAIDS Paris Declaration. It aims to end the global HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030. It is a partnership between cities around the world, the City of Paris, and four international organizations [the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)]. To date, more than 300 cities and municipalities worldwide have joined the initiative and are committed to achieving UNAIDS’ 90-90-90 targets by 2020, namely: 90% of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status; 90% of people living with HIV receiving treatment; and 90% of people on treatment achieving an undetectable viral load.

Learn more: https://www.fast-trackcities.org/about

National and regional data for 2018 are currently being analyzed and will be released by World AIDS Day on December 1, 2019.