Malta ranks second in EU study on HIV/AIDS care

When it comes to providing care to those with HIV or AIDS, Malta ranks as the second best EU member state but a report warns against complacency due to the increasing migration problem.

The Brussels-based think tank Health Consumer Powerhouse (HCP), which measured the level of HIV/AIDS care across the EU, said: "Malta is the surprise of the index in second position with 791 points, from 1,000; for the first time in the top five in a HCP Index".

The study, released yesterday, shows Malta performs well on obtaining results but had to improve on the involvement and rights of patients and access.

Getting better access to care will be one of the key points for Malta's performance as immigrants led to new cases of HIV and AIDS on the island, the report says.

According to provisional figures quoted in the study, there are 400 people living in Malta who have the virus, with half of them being African immigrants. Since the World Health Organisation started collating statistics on this virus, the number of AIDS deaths reported in Malta reached 47.

The study ranks the HIV situation across 28 indicators, covering four areas key to HIV: involvement and rights, access, prevention and outcomes. Malta scores well in all four sub-indices and is the overall best performer in the EU when it comes to results (outcomes).

According to Beatriz Cobolla, who directed this study, Malta is doing very well in the HIV/AIDS area, something which surprised the authors because, in similar studies on the general health services, Malta did not fare well in the last years. Dr Cobolla agrees the immigrants' contribution to the spread of HIV/AIDS is serious.

"Malta is doing rather well in all four sub-disciplines we studied and the total number of HIV/AIDS cases is still small compared to other countries but growing fast," she said.

Prevention and access should be the main areas for increased efforts, especially since in recent years the number of people on the island infected with HIV has quadrupled.

Dr Cobolla said there was a risk that such good performance could deteriorate in the near future because of a lack of financial support and human resources.

The risk assessment of vulnerable groups has also been highlighted in the study as one of Malta's strongest points. In general, the study shows Luxembourg ranking as the best European country in offering HIV/AIDS care, followed by Malta and Switzerland. The worst performers were Italy, Greece and Romania.

Since HIV infection was still growing across Europe, the authors said there was an urgent need to review and radically improve disease management, to better care for those living with this illness while containing the spread of the virus.

The study calls on governments to increase budgets in this area to provide better care and increase awareness.