Center for AIDS prevention announces HIV epidemic in Russia

Russia faced the HIV epidemic, the head of Russia's federal research center for the AIDS prevention, Vadim Pokrovsky, said.

A human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic has been officially declared in Yekaterinburg, the first deputy chief of Yekaterinburg's health-care department in Yekaterinburg, Tatyana Savinova, said.

The city has recorded 26,693 cases of the HIV infection, with roughly 1 out of every 50 people being a carrier. Of these carriers, 774 are children, 342 of whom have been diagnosed with HIV. According to her, it means that 1.8% of the city’s population is infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

Experts have said that the real figure might be higher as not all HIV-affected people refer to medical institutions, RFE/RL reports.