Paul Goble
Staunton, Oct. 25 – HIV infections have reached “epidemic proportions” in 27 of Russia’s federal subjects, with transmissions increasingly occurring through heterosexual contacts and the failure of medical facilities to prevent the spread. As a result, as many as three percent of Russian men in their 40s are infected and one percent of pregnant women.
Those are just some of the dire reports of Russian experts surveyed by Mikhail Sergeyev, who monitors economic developments for Nezavisimaya Gazeta, reports that suggest that while mortality rates from HIV have fallen there in recent years, that may not continue if the rate of the spread of HIV increases (ng.ru/economics/2026-10-25/1_9610_hiv.html).
One reason for pessimism is that many who are infected do now know that, and “only half of the people living with HIV” are getting anti-retroviral treatments, experts say. That low coverage means that “at least 600,000 HIV sources continue to actively participate in the transmission of the virus,” they continue.
According to the World Health Organization, controlling the spread of HIV requires that countries achieve what is known as the 95-95-95 benchmark, with 95 percent of those infected knowing their status, 95 percent receiving ART treatment, and 95 percent of those achieving viral suppression. At present, Russia is not close to any of those figures.
Russian medical officials say that “two thirds of the new HIV transmissions in Russia are the result of heterosexual contact” rather than drug abuse or homosexual activity;” and they note that hospitals and other medical institutions “are one again becoming channels of transmission of the virus.”
Moscow has lifted restrictions on ART medications, but the problem of a lack of the availability of such drugs is still so great that the hardest hit regions are now trying to fill in the gap, although they rarely are able to do so not only because of the high cost of such drugs but also because of their lack of funds for such things.
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