Coronavirus Spreads More Rapidly than HIV/AIDS, Justifying Harsh Measures, Demographer Says

Coronavirus File Photo adapted from image at cdc.gov

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, May 23, 2020) The coronavirus pandemic has hit Russia hard, Anatoly Vishnevsky says, but what is especially important is the way in which the government has responded. But on the whole, the demographer says, its actions have been harsh but correct because the coronavirus is so infectious, far more so than HIV/AIDS. […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin and Global Health: Friend or Foe?” – Center for Strategic and International Studies/ J. Stephen Morrison and Judyth Twigg

Medical Symbol with Pole, Serpents, Wings, adapted from image at lanl.gov

“… Over the course of this decade, Russia has consciously enlarged its engagement and commitments, at home and in the wider world, in battling both tuberculosis (TB) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Despite these positive steps, Russia remains a serious global health security threat. … [with] a live risk of uncontrolled HIV/AIDS and drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) epidemics within Russia itself … […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Avoidable Epidemic of HIV/AIDS” – PONARS Eurasia/ Judyth Twigg

Microscopic Image of T-Cells Infected by HIV

“After first exploding among people who inject drugs in the late 1990s, HIV/AIDS now presents a serious public health and social challenge in Russia. The threat was initially mitigated through energetic interventions from civil society, largely financed by the global health community, that attempted to introduce best-practice prevention and treatment strategies. President Vladimir Putin’s third term and the consequent dismantling […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Russian answer to opioid epidemic: ‘Cold turkey’; Russia has an opioid abuse problem as big as America’s, but a very different way of dealing with it. No methadone replacement therapy in Moscow – just a couple of aspirin and a short, sharp withdrawal shock.” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir

Blurred Image of Young Woman Holding Up Pill Between Her Thumb and Index Finger, adapted from image at drugabuse.gov

“Russia has an opioid addiction crisis about as grave as America’s. … the two countries’ approaches to the problem could hardly be more different. … most US and European clinics offer patients methadone as replacement therapy [yet] Russian doctors disdain such ‘soft’ treatment. … their [cold turkey] methods … have a lower success rate than the 50 percent achieved in the United States. … […]

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Russia’s HIV Situation ‘Epidemic’ – Rospotrebnadzor

Microscopic Image of T-Cells Infected by HIV

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – December 1, 2015) Russia’s HIV infection rates have become epidemic, spreading to citizens beyond at risk groups, the head of Rospotrebnadzor’s epidemiology supervision department in St. Petersburg, Irina Chkhindzheriya said, the Interfax news agency reported. “We have to admit that the country’s soaring HIV rates can be described as epidemic. About 1 percent of Russians […]

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Russia’s HIV Patients Struggle to Get Treatment

Microscopic Image of T-Cells Infected by HIV

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Daria Litvinova – September 17, 2015) When Russian health care officials announced last week they would start replacing foreign HIV medication with drugs produced in Russia, patients’ rights advocates were quick to point out that HIV patients have complained that domestic drugs are ineffective and have undesirable side effects – but patients themselves say that […]

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AIDS: Is there an epidemic in Russia?

Microscopic Image of T-Cells Infected by HIV

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Svetlana Arkhangelskaya, special to RBTH- July 3, 2015) According to the Center for the Prevention and Fight Against AIDS, there are now about 900,000 cases of people infected with HIV in the country. Is there an AIDS epidemic and how are HIV patients treated? Russia is one of the few remaining countries in […]

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HIV is not grounds for deportation, says Russia’s Constitutional Court

Microscopic Image of T-Cells Infected by HIV

According to a ruling by the Constitutional Court of Russia, being HIV-positive does not represent an unconditional basis for deportation from the country for foreign nationals. Speaking to RBTH, human rights advocates called the decision an important achievement in protecting of the rights of people in Russia living with HIV. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Darya Lyubinskaya, special to RBTH […]

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Russian NGOs Working to Fight AIDS Not ‘Foreign Agents’

HIV Infection Microscopic Photo of Cells

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Allison Quinn – August 15, 2014) Non-governmental organizations working to fight HIV/AIDS in Russia will not be required to register as foreign agents if they receive funding from abroad, Kommersant reported Friday, citing the results of recent inspections by the Justice Ministry. The inspections, which began in June at the government’s request, covered dozens of […]

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HIV Epidemic Plagues Russia as Government Rejects Prevention Methods

HIV Infection Microscopic Photo of Cells

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Simeon Bennett and Stepan Kravchenko – January 13, 2014) On a chilly September evening in Novogireyevo, a Moscow suburb of concrete apartment blocks about 16 kilometers east of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin compound, a young woman in an orange hoodie approaches Sasha Mazay with an offer that might save his life. Mazay, 33, is one […]

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RIA Novosti: 143,000 Russians Killed by HIV-Related Illnesses – Official

HIV Infection Microscopic Photo of Cells

MOSCOW, November 28 (RIA Novosti) ­ More than 143,000 Russians have died from HIV-related illnesses since records started being kept, a federal AIDS research center official said Thursday. Vadim Pokrovsky, head of the AIDS research and prevention center, said 20,000 people died from complications of HIV last year alone. Rampant drug addiction and lack of effort in improving sex education […]

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HIV rate going up in Russia – watchdog

HIV Infection Microscopic Photo of Cells

MOSCOW. Nov 15 (Interfax) – The HIV rate is on the rise in Russia, according to a sanitary watchdog, which describes it as an “epidemic.” Between January and September this year more than 54,000 new HIV cases were registered, which was 7.1% up on the same period of 2012, the acting head of the Federal Surveillance Service for Consumer Rights […]

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Russia failing to test vulnerable groups for HIV

HIV Infection Microscopic Photo of Cells

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Ivan Varentsov, public health expert with the Andrey Rylkov Foundation; special to RBTH – August 22, 2013) The country’s ineffective and conservative policy stymies efforts to stop the epidemic. The HIV epidemic is one of the most pressing public health problems in Russia today. According to the latest UNAIDS global report, Eastern Europe […]

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Life Expectancy in Russia Is Stagnant, Study Says

File Photo of Two Elders Walking Outdoors

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – March 6, 2013) Russia saw virtually no increase in life expectancy from 1990 to 2010 and lagged behind more than 100 countries in the key health statistic over that period, according to a global study released Tuesday. The study, called the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2010, says that while global life […]

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