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In Western Europe, the routes of transmission of HIV are diverse, including paid sex, sex between men, intravenous drugs, mother to child transmission and heterosexual sex. However, many new infections in this region occur through contact with HIV-infected individuals from other regions. In some areas of Europe, such as the Baltic countries, the most common route of HIV transmission is through injecting drug use and heterosexual sex, including paid sex.
The adult prevalence in Europe in 2018 varied from a high of 1.20% in Russia to a low of 0.1% in eleven countries. Due to the availability of antiretroviral therapy, deaths from AIDS have stayed low since the introduction of protease inhibitors and combination therapy in the late 1990s. 14% are believed to have been infected by intravenous drug use in 2018.
Regarding the social effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, there has been since the 1980s a "profound re-medicalization of sexuality".