AIDS in Russia: "Hunt the virus – not humans!"

About 15,000 experts advise on the World AIDS Conference in Amsterdam. The situation is particularly dire for people infected with HIV, according to activists in Russia. They say the government ignores AIDS and sets false priorities.

By Jeanne Turczynski, BR, cz. Amsterdam

HIV infections are increasing in more than 50 countries. The situation is particularly dramatic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Especially Russia has a problem. Activists point this out at the World AIDS Conference in Amsterdam. Russian activist Anna Dovbach says the Moscow government ignores the problems and sets the wrong priorities.

About 100,000 people were infected with HIV in Russia last year. More than half of them were addicts. And drug addicts do not treat with circumspection in Russia. Already in possession of a few grams of marijuana, you can go to jail.

The largest heroin market in the world

But in Russia, very different drugs are consumed. The country is the largest heroin market in the world. Anyone who gets caught in the heroin consumption, threatened with severe penalties. "What happens, they go to jail, maybe even get tortured," says Dovbach in Amsterdam. "And then cold deprivation threatens them, it's the horror we perceive here."

Dovbach heads the Russian organization Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA). The badociation supports drug addicts in Russia. For drug addicts, for example, it is important to use clean syringes to prevent the spread of HIV. "Risk reduction" is the technical term used to describe this term

. Many countries have started to provide syringes for drug addicts. The Netherlands is an example. This is unthinkable in Russia at the moment. Again and again, President Vladimir Putin made it clear that you do not need drug addicts. He's chasing them, said Dovbach to Amsterdam. It demands: "Hunt the virus – not humans!"

Spontaneous Financing of Aid Programs

The Dovbach Demand is a motto under which several organizations from Eastern Europe and Central Asia have joined forces. They no longer want to accept that the HIV epidemic can continue to spread unnoticed. Russia spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year on HIV treatment. The question, however, is: where is the money going?

Money does not seem to be spent on preventive programs. They are financed exclusively by funds from the United Nations Global Fund launched in 2001, that is to say from abroad. The Global Fund supports governments in the fight against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. This year, however, fund funds for Russia expire. It is unclear how this happens with the treatment of HIV-infected patients.

People stay without treatment

"All we spend on HIV prevention is wasted," says Dovbach. People would be locked up, "and then they will not receive any treatment, they will not be tested," she says.

Abused homobaduals are also treated in Russia. Although they are a relatively small group of infected people. But the encouragement that they rarely learn. In public life, they are practically forbidden to show themselves. This makes education about HIV and the treatment of an infection more difficult.

Gay life only in secret

As a result, gay life only takes place in secret. Activist Vitaly Djuma, who is committed to gay rights in Eastern Europe, says: "Of course we do not go to the doctor, we do not protect ourselves, we are not not tested and we are not treated for HIV. " one-fifth of all homobadual men newly infected with the HIV virus in Russia.

World AIDS Conference President Linda-Gail Bekker of South Africa sends a message to politicians in Eastern Europe. "You have to act, and fast," she says. There are currently about one million people living with HIV in Russia – the number of unreported cases could be significantly higher.

The Orthodox Church counts on abstinence

People are not informed about the plague. Take some medicine. 43% of people infected with HIV in Russia are heterobadual. The Russian Orthodox Church has ensured that bad education is banned from schools. She counts on abstinence. For example, Russia's prevention policy, supported by $ 600 million a year, may have failed.

In addition, over the past decade, President Putin has not even publicly mentioned the terms HIV and AIDS. He must see evidence, infections are increasing in his region, in his country, "says Bekker.