Strong increase in HIV infections in Russia

WHO worried - especially young women, drug addicts and homosexuals affected

03/12/2014

HIV is often associated with countries that are outside Europe. But in Europe, too, the number of infections is increasing. In total, there are 860,000 registered infections. By the end of 2015, WHO expects one million infections.

This is the result of a recent WHO report. In 2013, more than 105,000 new HIV infections in the European Region were recorded in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA), more than 29,000 in the European Union and the European Economic Area (EEA) and around 2,000 in other countries outside reported to the EU. This represents a tripling of the new HIV cases to EECA countries compared to 2004, while in EU and EEA countries there has been no decline in HIV diagnoses.

„The European Region has failed to meet the Millennium Development Goals target of halting and gradually reversing the spread of HIV / AIDS by 2015. The clock is gradually decreasing. As we face more and more new threats to health, we are again reminded that we should not go into inaction on HIV / AIDS“, says Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe. „In Eastern Europe, where 77% of all new infections were reported, two-thirds of cases among injecting drug users were detected late. This means that they are at greater risk of transmitting HIV, will be more costly to treat, and more likely to die. Now there are new WHO guidelines that allow countries to target specifically those most at risk for HIV infection. It strongly advocates proven harm reduction interventions for injecting drug users. Through targeted action, we can turn the tide.“

Russia especially affected by new infections
There has been a rapid increase in new infections, especially in Russia. There are 200 new infections daily. The reported Russian medical dpa on Monday in Moscow. In addition, they predict an increase in new infections by 10 percent annually in the coming years. The number of unreported cases should be much higher.

Especially young women between the ages of 25 and 35 are therefore affected. Approximately 100 would be infected daily, said the head of the Federal Center for the fight against AIDS, Vadim Pokrovsky. For homosexuals, however, increases of one percent were recorded.
Above all, there is a lack of medication for the early treatment of infected people. According to Pokrovsky, only 175,000 patients would receive medication, most of them seriously ill. This number must be doubled, so the physician: „Then the sharpness of the problem would decrease.“ Pokrovsky called the rise „extremely fast.“ (Jp)

Image: Petra Bork