Spread of HIV in Russia Now So Widespread Makes that Threat of New Outbreaks Exists in at Ever-Increasing Number of that Country’s Federal Subjects

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 27 – According to the World Health Organization, when more than one percent of women who become pregnant over the course of three years are diagnosed with HIV, there is a danger of new outbreaks that could overwhelm healthcare systems. At present, the To Be Precise portal says, this figure has been exceeded in 11 of Russia’s federal subjects.

            The worst conditions are in five regions east of the Urals --             Krasnoyarsk and Altai krays and Kemerovo, Irkutsk and Tomsk oblasts – and six in the European portion of the Russian Federation – Samara, Orenburg, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk, and Leningrad oblasts. The worst is Kemerovo Oblast with 2.3 percent infections (t.me/tochno_st/529).

            The situation is getting worse: Only a year ago, only eight federal subjects exceeded the one percent figure. Now 14 do, a number likely to grow given shortages of anti-retro-viral drugs and the Russian government’s failure to test heavily among groups at greatest risk (nemoskva.net/2025/05/26/ugroza-novoj-vspyshki-vich-prisutstvuet-kak-minimum-v-11-regionah-rossii/).

            And if this trend continues, Russia could suffer an epidemic that would lead to large numbers of deaths among those infected – unless the Kremlin changes course and invests in the healthcare of its own citizens rather than in repression at home and aggression abroad.