North Macedonia: Tackling a Small but Rapidly Growing Epidemic

Reveals that North Macedonia has one of the region’s smallest human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemics, but it has grown rapidly, concentrated among males (80 percent in 2014), with 64 percent of newly diagnosed people living with HIV (PLHIV) made up of men who have sex with men (MSM). Small numbers of new diagnoses occurred among other key populations, including male sex workers (MSWs) and people who inject drugs (PWID). New HIV diagnoses among the general population remain low. Total HIV spending increased by nearly 80 percent between 2008 and 2013, mostly due to substantial growth in international funding. The end of support from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will require reprioritizing HIV spending while sustaining key services, but this transition to significantly greater reliance on domestic funding for HIV programming coincides with epidemic growth and will require the optimization of resources for delivery areas to lower the cost of care per person reached.