Press Release
29 November 2006
Facing the challenges of Russia’s AIDS epidemic
Stigma and discrimination, one of the major challenges being addressed in Russia, are standing in the way in the fight against Russia’s HIV and AIDS epidemic, one of the fastest growing in the world, according to a new report published today.
“Knowledge for Action on HIV/AIDS in the Russian Federation”
(3.9
mb), published by the Department for International Development and carried out
in partnership with the Russian Government and NGOs, showed a large increase in
the numbers of injecting drug users and in sexually transmitted diseases over
the last generation.
The report set out how the HIV situation has worsened due to a number of challenges, including the stigma and discrimination associated with vulnerable groups such as injecting drug users and sex workers, hampering efforts in prevention and care.
It detailed the extent of the increasing problems in Russia, including:
- more than 300,000 HIV/AIDS cases, an increase of 300% since 1995;
- an 80-fold increase in the amount of syphilis cases registered between 1988 to 1998; and
- up to 3 million people, or 2 per cent of the population, have become injecting drug users.
According to the study, that investigated the behavioural, economic and political aspects of the disease in Russia, the HIV epidemic is concentrated in the new drug using population and among sex workers, where there is an increasing overlap. The increase in injecting drug users has in part been put down to the increase in drug trafficking, including an estimated 50 per cent of Afghanistan’s opium crop, passing through Russia on its way to Europe.
Injecting drug users and sex workers are marginalised within Russian society, making it politically difficult for the Government to fund treatment and prevention services in the face of competing demands. And widely accepted methods of treating drug addiction and reducing risk of HIV infection, including providing clean needles and condoms and drug substitution, are seen as endorsing drug use.
This situation has further been made worse by poverty, unemployment and weakened health services since the political reforms of the 1990s. The health care system is in transition and requires continued strengthening and modernisation to deliver the multi-faced campaign against HIV and AIDS.
The Russian Government, in response to the growing epidemic, has committed $120 million for HIV treatment for this year, an increase of twenty times current funding levels, and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria has pledged $209 million over the next five years. The Government is also committed to increasing the number of people with access to anti-retrovirals from 3,500 last year to 10,000 by the end of 2006 and up to 35,000 by 2007.
Gareth Thomas, Minister for International Development, said:
“This is a vital and timely report revealing the challenges that both the Government and people of Russia face, to overcome public attitudes and modernise Russia’s health system, if they are going successfully to fight the growing problem of HIV and AIDS.
”It is a further reminder of the worldwide need to stop discrimination by providing support to marginalised groups such as men who have sex with men, sex workers and injecting drug users.”
The report makes a number of recommendations to improve the handling of HIV treatment on a national level including:
- leadership on a national level for the response to HIV and AIDS epidemic;
- better co-ordination of the funding resources available, from international donors and NGOs;
- debate on sex education and HIV with education authorities and other key stakeholders to improve understanding of and attitudes towards the risks of infection;
- reform of drug treatment services; and
- engagement with business and the private sector to improve HIV control.
Notes for editors
1. Copies of the report, Knowledge for Action on HIV/AIDS in the Russian
Federation can be found on the
DFID website
(3.9
mb) For more information, please contact the DFID press office on 020 7023 0944.
2. The report was designed to add to the knowledge base to help in the formation
of effective policy and intervention. It is the result of a unique collaboration
between DFID, Imperial College and the Russian federal and regional authorities.
The primary elements of the study were carried out in Altai krai and Volgrograd
Oblasts, with additional field studies in Moscow and Samara Oblast.
3. DFID announced £25 million to fund a programme of work in Russia to support
the regional and federal authorities and civil society respond to the emerging
HIV epidemic. The report is one of the outputs from this programme.
4. DFID has had a bilateral programme in Russia since the early 1990s. Initially
this aimed at supporting the transition to a market economy and, since 2003, has
focused on a set of policy issues based around the Government of Russia’s
administrative and social reforms. Over the period 2002 – 2006 DFID has
committed more than £50m of development assistance in Russia, along with
contributions to humanitarian operations in the North Caucasus. Programmes have
supported work with Russian partners at the federal, oblast and local level in
Moscow and in a number of regions throughout Russia, working on a range of
issues including administrative and Civil Service reforms, health, HIV & AIDS,
civil society development, conflict prevention and improving services to
vulnerable groups. DFID also commits significant resources through contributions
to multilateral development agencies such as the European Commission and the
World Bank. We aim to use our influence with these organisations to encourage
them to focus increasingly on institutional and social issues as well as on
purely economic ones.
(281
kb)
