In a document on combating AIDS, the Commission said that as of 2007, around 2.2 million people carried the virus in the EU and nearby countries, an increase of 700,000 from 2001.

According to Commission figures, around 730,000 of these live within the EU's 27 member states.

France, Italy, Spain and Portugal have relatively high infection rates - ranging from 0.4 percent to 0.5 percent. In the Baltic country of Estonia, the infection rate stands at around 1.3 percent.

In neighboring Ukraine, around 1.6 percent of the population has been diagnosed with HIV, while in Russia around 1.1 percent are HIV positive.

The Commission warned that now was not the time for Europe to drop its guard on preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, adding that in some neighboring countries the number of people carrying the virus had doubled.

EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said political momentum in the fight against HIV/AIDS needed to be maintained, adding that people must "take responsibility for themselves and their partners by talking about and practicing safe sex and going for HIV testing."

A cure for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has yet to be found more than a quarter century after it was brought to public attention. However, efficient treatments exist to slow the evolution of the virus.

dfm/AFP
Editor: Chuck Penfold