AIDS in Ingushetia

 

Staff members of the Ingush HIV Center are concerned about the rise of AIDS in the republic. The center was opened in 1997, but only in 1999 was the first HIV-positive person registered. In 2001 the epidemicbegan and there are 855 sick people, including 16 children.

According to Luisa Bekmurziyeva, senior staff member at the Ingush HIV  Center, there is all least one HIV-positive person in each Ingush settlement.  She underlined that there are a lot of HIV-positive people among the upper-middle class. HIV is a problem not only of people from a low social strata, but all achievers, such as businessmen and local officials. A lot of people are infected during unprotected heterosexual intercourse.

 

 

Luisa Bekmurziyeva regrets that doctors cannot control the rise of HIV, as they have no chance of interfering in human lifestyles. What is necessary is to launch government programs aimed at fighting HIV and AIDS. Local authorities should adopt other regions’ and countries’ practices, and popularize a healthy lifestyle.Pavel Tsoroyev, Nazran. Exclusively to VK