The Evolving HIV Landscape in Central and Eastern Europe: Progress, Gaps, and Future Directions- Part II
This article represents Part II of a narrative review on HIV and AIDS in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Following Part I, which focused on epidemiology, health policies, testing strategies, and clinical management, this section addresses HIV prevention and the impact of stigma and discrimination on access to HIV care, aims to identify current gaps and determine key priorities for strengthening HIV prevention efforts and improving HIV care in the region. The review includes prevention approaches, including pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis, treatment as prevention strategy, and harm reduction interventions, and compares their accessibility and implementation across countries. The impact of stigma and discrimination on prevention, diagnosis and care services was also assessed. The review also includes a section on the successes and gains of several CEE countries in responding to the HIV epidemic.
Authors
- Carlo Bieńkowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6488-4576)
- Botond Lakatos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7276-7639)
- Merve Mert Vahabi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5008-0139)
- Josip Begovać (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2641-4327)
- Ivailo Alexiev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3186-1124)
- Mike Youle
- Justyna Kowalska
- Cristiana Oprea
- Deniz Gökengin
Institutions
- Izmir University (TR)
- Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy (RO)
- University of Zagreb (HR)
- Medical University of Warsaw (PL)
- The Royal Free Hospital (GB)
- Ege University (TR)
- National Center of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (BG)
- University College London (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- International Journal of Infectious Diseases
- Published
- 2026-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2026.108680
- Primary Topic
- Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00