Russia faces HIV epidemic with 1 mn cases
07-Sep-16, ABC
Russia has reached a shocking milestone, with over 1 million people officially registered with HIV.
The Kremlin's ultra-conservative approach to the crisis, however, is drawing sharp criticism from people at the forefront of the battle to contain the disease, who say it is fuelling the epidemic.
Image: Kim Traill
"HIV has entered the mainstream population," warns Dr Vadim Pokrovsky, head of Russia's Federal AIDS Centre.
Infection rates in Russia are growing at over 10 per cent a year. AIDS experts are worried, and the hospitals are overwhelmed. The corridors in Moscow Regional Hospital's AIDS centre are overflowing with anxious patients.