Anjali Druv
According to recent World Health Organization estimates, there are approximately 35.3 million people living with HIV worldwide, with SubSaharan Africa having the highest prevalence, with nearly one in every 20 adults living with HIV and accounting for nearly 71 percent of those living with HIV worldwide. The epidemiology of HIV infection and its therapeutic care are heavily influenced by migration trends. Immigrant populations are recognised to have a higher risk of contracting HIV; they are more vulnerable due to a variety of variables such as coming from HIV-endemic countries (Africa, South America, Eastern Europe, Asia), social marginalisation, language, cultural, and socioeconomic hurdles. These individual and social aspects must be added: the challenges in obtaining health services for disease diagnosis and treatment, the lack of social and legal protection, and, last but not least, the difficulty in obtaining prevention information. All of this means a higher risk of contracting HIV and a faster progression to the terminal stage of the disease.