Lithuania (pop. 3 417 000)

By the end of 2006, Lithuania had reported a cumulative total of 1200 HIV cases; it had also reported that 123 of those infected had developed AIDS, including 54 who had died. 87% of the registered HIV cases have been male. In the HIV cases with a known mode of transmission, 82% were infected through injecting drug use, 11% through heterosexual contact and 7% through men having sex with men.

For the year 2006, the authorities reported 100 new HIV cases (77% IDUs), 27 new AIDS cases and 8 deaths among AIDS cases. 21% of the registered HIV cases are in people younger than 25. The city of Klaipeda has the greatest number of PLHIV.

The number of HIV cases has been steadily increasing since the first HIV case was reported in 1989. Up to 1997, HIV in Lithuania was reported as being transmitted through sexual contacts, mostly among MSM and among seafarers who contracted the virus heterosexually in countries with generalized epidemics. Since 1997, there has been a rapid spread of HIV infections among IDUs, especially in prisons. The reported number of newly diagnosed cases peaked in 2002, when in total 397 new infections were registered, of which 263 were prisoners at the Alytus prison. Before the tests at the Alytus prison, Lithuania had reported just 300 cases of HIV in the whole country. Since 2002, the number of reported new cases has been relatively stable with on average 116 new HIV cases reported each year. All HIV diagnoses are incorporated in a single national database.

Officially registered IDUs show a steady increase over the recent years – 3521 in 2000 to 5011 in 2004. The estimated number of IDUs was 7000 to 11 000 in 2005. Studies among IDUs attending drug treatment centres, needle exchange programmes, hospitals or other clinics found an HIV prevalence ranging from 1 to 3% in the period 2000-2006.

Another vulnerable group is the inmates in penal institutions, as many of these include former or active IDUs. In 2003-2004 there were about 200 PLHIV on average among the inmates of the penal institutions.

The incidence of syphilis cases increased dramatically from fewer than 10 cases per 100 000 in 1983-1991 to 101/100 000 in 1996, before dropping back to 10/100 000 in 2006.

In total, approximately 52 988 people were tested for HIV in 2006 at 43 testing facilities. Testing was provided free of charge for special risk groups. Partner notification was mandatory and anonymous. HIV testing was systematically offered to pregnant women, STI patients, TB patients, IDUs, citizenship seekers, refugees, MSM, SWs, military recruits, sailors and before adoption. Additionally, testing was systematically carried out in prisoners at entry and exit.
Of those tested for co-infections with hepatitis B/C in 2006, 8% were hepatitis B coinfected and 80% were hepatitis C coinfected. 46 cases of TB coinfection were reported through 1992 to 2006.

By the end of 2006, no cases of MTCT of HIV infection had been reported.

In 2006, approximately 433 Lithuanian HIV/AIDS patients received medical treatment for their condition. The number of patients receiving HAART increased from 19 in 2002 to 75 at the end of 2006 (59 of them male, 19 of them IDUs). Of the 19 IDUs on HAART, 6 also received opioid substitution therapy. By December 2007, 98 people were receiving HAART.

Updated 19 June 2008

References:

Amato-Gauci A J, Mimica J, Murauskiene L. Mid-Term Review of the Lithuanian National HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Programme 2003-2008. 2006

European Centre for Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS (EuroHIV). HIV/AIDS surveillance in Europe. End-year report 2006. Saint-Maurice: Institut de Veille Sanitaire, 2007. No. 75.

EuroHIV. Report on the EuroHIV 2006 survey on HIV and AIDS surveillance in the WHO European Region. Saint-Maurice: Institut de Veille Sanitaire 2007

WHO Regional Office for Europe. Sexually transmitted infections/HIV/AIDS programme. WHO/Europe survey on HIV/AIDS and antiretroviral therapy 2006. WHO: Copenhagen; 2007

The European HIV Prevalence Database: (webpage) http://eurohiv-database.invs.sante.fr

WHO Regional Office for Europe. Centralized Information System for Infectious Diseases, CISID (webpage): http://data.euro.who.int/cisid