World AIDs Day: More cases of HIV infection registered every year in Russia

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According to UNAIDS data, most countries are showing progress in HIV prevention and treatment. However in Russia, the situation is deteriorating and more cases of HIV infection are registered every year. More than 900,000 people in Russia are already registered as having HIV. Julia Lyubova reports.

Vlada and Sergey take this van equipped with medical supplies to the streets of Moscow every night. The supplies include clean syringes, condoms and home tests for HIV. They also do HIV testing in their van.

VLADA, SOCIAL WORKER ANDREY RYLKOV FOUNDATION "Every week we find new spots where we can work. Some days we come out 3 times, we go to various pharmacies. And in some spots 30 or 35 people come to us. We realise this is the tip of the iceberg we are dealing with. But there are many more people out there."

The Andrey Rylkov Foundation is a small Moscow-based charity and is one of few to distribute needles in a city of more than 15 million people. The sharing of contaminated needles is one of the main reasons behind the HIV epidemic in Russia.

In 2017 more than 900,000 people are registered to have HIV in Russia and it is estimated that 10 people are infected with HIV every hour.

VINAY P. SALDANHA, REGIONAL DIR. UNAIDS, EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA "Russia unfortunately is one of the countries where the burden of the epidemic continues to deteriorate, we have seen a continued trend since 2010 the number of officially reported or so-called registered news cases of HIV continues to increase year after year."

In response to the epidemic the Russian government has adopted a state strategy and has launched a campaign. Recently it has organised a national forum for HIV specialists.

But despite this, still only a third of all registered HIV-positive people in Russia receive anti-retroviral treatment and stigma about the disease is widespread.

JULIA LYUBOVA MOSCOW The government's efforts have helped to raise public awareness about AIDS and HIV in Russia, however it hasn't been enough to prevent an epidemic. And unless drastic measures are taken, the number of people in Russia who get infected with HIV every year will continue to rise. Julia Lyubova, CGTN, Moscow.