“In 2024, we saw a reduction in reported cases, compared to the total for 2023, maintaining the overall downward trend in recent years regarding new diagnoses,” the new director of the National Program for Sexually Transmitted Infections and Human Immunodeficiency Virus/AIDS told the Lusa news agency.

Late diagnosis

Bárbara Flor de Lima warned, however, that about 54% of new diagnoses are still late.

"In the first clinical evaluation, asymptomatic cases predominated (58.5%), but presentation to health care was delayed in 53.9% of cases, particularly in people aged 50 or over (65.4%) and in men with heterosexual transmission (67.6%)," points out the report "HIV Infection in Portugal 2025".

"We have some concern in this population, which implies having some specific measures in order to address missed diagnostic opportunities and increase testing and screening in this specific population," argued the infectious disease specialist.

According to the report prepared by the DGS and the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA), of the 997 new cases reported last year, 951 occurred in the country, corresponding to 8.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (value not yet adjusted for notification delay).

Demographic data

The majority of diagnoses occurred in men, in a ratio of 2.7 cases for every case in women. Five cases were reported in children under 15 years of age, three of them with mother-to-child transmission and diagnosed in Portugal.

In the remaining cases, the median age was 37 years, and 27.6% were under 30 years old. Among these, 68.7% were men who have sex with men (MSM), with the lowest median age (31 years).

The highest diagnosis rate was recorded in the 25-29 age group, particularly among men, with 46 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Location of the identified cases

The highest number of new diagnoses (14.6 cases/100,000 inhabitants) was recorded in Greater Lisbon, followed by the Setúbal Peninsula (13.3) and Madeira (8.5).

More than half of the new cases (53.6%) occurred in people born abroad, but, the document points out, “Portugal was indicated as the country of probable contagion in 52.5% of cases with this information available and in 69.9% of cases in people from Latin America.”

Among foreign men, 59% were from Latin America, while among foreign women, those from African countries predominated (79.2%).

Sexual transmission was reported in 97% of diagnosed cases. Heterosexual transmission predominated (52.5%), although 60.6% of new diagnoses in men occurred in MSM.

In 2024, 194 new cases of AIDS were diagnosed (1.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), a higher value than in the two previous years (3.4), with only 77 (39.7%) concerning people born in Portugal.

Decrease in the number of cases

Bárbara Flor de Lima highlighted that new AIDS cases fell by 43% between 2015 and 2024, and new HIV infection cases by 35%.

"Despite late diagnoses, not all effectively translate into AIDS diagnoses," commented the manager.

In 2024, 108 deaths were reported, of which 46.3% occurred more than 20 years after diagnosis and 17.6% five years later, says the report presented four days before World AIDS Day.

Between 1983 and 2024, Portugal recorded 66,421 cases of HIV infection and 16,050 deaths, says the report, noting that since 2021, deaths from other causes, such as neoplasms and diseases of the circulatory system, have become predominant in relation to those related to HIV.

Despite the sustained downward trend, the report warns that Portugal remains among the European Union countries with the highest annual rates of AIDS diagnosis, approximately three times the European average.

In connection with World AIDS Day (December 1st), Bárbara Flor de Lima recalled "the importance of diagnosis, early screening" and "safe sex" to "guarantee sexual health and prevent sexually transmitted infections, including HIV".