The number of HIV infected people in Bulgaria to date is nearly 2,000

On December 1, the International AIDS Day, data to date shows that nearly 2,000 people are officially registered as carriers of the HIV virus in Bulgaria.

99 percent of them are already on therapy, and there are more and more people in whom the therapy gives results and they can no longer infect other people.

Forty years after the first reported case of AIDS, BNT reporters sought answers to questions about how people live with the virus and what measures should be taken to better prevent it.

Two years ago, Andrei Krumov lived in Germany. He has an interesting job and an active life. He looks after his health and that is why he has had preventive examinations every 6 months. After one of the medical examinations he learned the frightening news - "You are HIV-positive."

"At one point my world turned upside down, but I got over it quickly, I am a person who does not give up easily. And I want to live," said Andrei Krumov.

However, the challenge remained how to tell his relatives.

"I hid the news from my mother for two weeks after I found out I was HIV positive. But then I told her and talked for 2 hours about it," Andrei recalls.

Instead of being afraid, with the support of his mother, Andrei looked for therapy, which continues after he returns to Bulgaria.

"Even here in Bulgaria it's a little better because the therapy is free-of-charge. Initially, I had to go for blood tests more often, but now I will start doing them every ssix months, after they found that I have an undetectable status. This means that I cannot transmit it through sexual or blood contact, " added Andrei.

Prevention remains a challenge for the Bulgarian system, according to the non-governmental sector. That is why they welcome the adopted new strategy with hope, which also offers new opportunities.

“Regulation and methodological guidance for predispositional and post-exposure prophylaxis of HIV prevention should be established in Bulgaria. These are drugs that are used to prevent HIV before a person is at risk or has already had a risky contact,” says Momchil Baev, manager of a sexual health programme at the Single Step Foundation.

The strategy also includes the possibility of home testing for HIV. The measures set in this way are expected to become a reality by the end of next year.

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