Russia Officially Registered More Than 305,000 HIV Cases Since 1987; UNAIDS Estimates 860,000 Cases
Russia has registered slightly more than 305,000 HIV-positive people since 1987, a Russian official said Monday, Xinhuanet reports (Xinhuanet, 2/7). "Since 1987, 305,242 HIV carriers have been registered in Russia, and of this number 1,285 have had AIDS. Over 900 of those who had AIDS have died," Larisa Dementyeva, a representative of the Russian Consumer Control's HIV/AIDS monitoring department, said (Interfax , 2/7). In 2004, Russia registered more than 33,000 new HIV cases, a 17.5% decrease from the 2003 level, Dementyeva said (Xinhuanet, 2/7). However, UNAIDS estimates that about 860,000 HIV-positive people currently live in Russia, according to MosNews.com. Nongovernmental organizations last year held protests throughout the country to draw attention to the problems HIV-positive people face and demand antiretroviral treatment at no cost for people who need therapy, MosNews.com reports (MosNews.com, 2/8). Dementyeva said that in most regions of Russia about 72% of HIV-positive people contracted the disease through injection drug use and more than 40,000 HIV cases have been diagnosed among prison inmates. She added that the number of HIV cases attributable to sexual transmission is rising, according to Xinhuanet (Xinhuanet, 2/7).
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