Russian AIDS crisis deepens
The number of people in Russia infected with the virus that causes AIDS has risen by more than 10% since January, Russia’s top AIDS expert said yesterday, again underscoring the deadly disease’s gathering threat to the country.
Vadim Pokrovsky, who heads the Federal AIDS Centre, said the official number of people infected with HIV climbed from 270,000 to 300,000 between January and October, according to the Interfax news agency.
Pokrovsky, however, warned that figure was only those who have officially registered with authorities. He said a more realistic number would be 1 to 1.5 million people – the majority of whom live in Russia’s two largest cities: Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Activists and foreign AIDS experts say Russia faces an explosive pandemic in coming years because of widespread misconceptions, underfunded programs and official ignorance toward HIV and AIDS.
Pokrovsky warned that as many as 1 million people may die of AIDS in Russia by 2008 and he criticised government funding of education and prevention programs.
