Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in Russia

In 2015, the infection caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (HIV infection) dominated among life-threatening infections in Russians: it was first diagnosed in 98,177 Russians and 15,530 citizens of the Russian Federation died from HIV/AIDS, amounting to 45% of all deaths from infectious diseases in Russia. By the mid-2016, there were a total of 1,062,476 identified HIV-positive Russians, of whom 225,992 people died. The estimated number of HIV-infected patients in Russia approximated to 1% of the population, the highest prevalence of HIV being found in the age group of 30-40 years. The most active and expensive measures against HIV/AIDS in Russia are to examine the population for anti-HIV antibodies (29 million screenings per year) and to use in HIV-positive people antiretroviral therapy that was free of charge to more than 200,000 patients, i.e. nearly 25% of the registered Russians living with the HIV-infected. However, treatment coverage and quality are far from the target indicators that the international experts consider needed to reduce HIV prevalence and mortality. A wider program on HIV/AIDS, which includes a number of preventive measures with proven efficiency, as well as a program of promising researches and developments should be introduced in Russia.