Over 550,000 Russians living with HIV
By IANSTuesday, November 30, 2010
Moscow, Nov 30 (IANS/RIA Novosti) There are 568,217 people in Russia living with HIV, official statistics show.
On the eve of the World AIDS Day - Dec 1 - Russia’s health ministry Tuesday said the number of HIV-positive cases among 30-40-year-olds in the country has risen from nine percent in 2000 to 36 percent in 2009.
However, cases of HIV/AIDS among younger people have decreased, said Galina Chistyakova, deputy director of the health ministry’s sanitary and epidemiological welfare department.
The number of HIV-positive cases among people under 20 declined from 20 percent in 2004 to 2.9 percent in 2009, and among 20-30 year-olds from 64 percent to 46 percent, she said.
“This means that our youth has become more serious about their health,” she said.
Russia has earmarked over 13.5 billion rubles ($430.6 million) for HIV treatment this year, and aims to raise the figure to 19 billion rubles ($606 million) in 2011.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
