Camilla Jessen
New figures show one in 25 Russian men infected.
Russia is facing a worsening HIV epidemic, with new figures placing the country alongside Guyana, Guinea and Nigeria in terms of infection rates.
Rising numbers
Vadim Pokrovsky, head of Russia’s Federal Scientific and Methodological Center for AIDS Prevention and Control, said the number of people living with HIV has grown by 35,000 in the past year, reaching an estimated 1.25 million.
Speaking to the state news agency TASS, he warned that the risks of infection “are very high.”
Among Russians aged 15 to 50, more than 1% are believed to be HIV-positive. “If we look at men aged 40 to 45, the percentage is 4%,” Pokrovsky said. “That means one in 25 men is infected.”
Russia’s Health Ministry officially registers around 900,000 HIV patients, but specialists believe the true number is far higher due to gaps in testing and slow diagnosis.
Global comparison
The World Health Organization’s data shows Russia records 890 HIV cases per 100,000 people, a level close to several African countries with long-standing epidemics – Guinea (874), Guyana (937) and Nigeria (961).
Russia’s rate is higher than in Chad, Ethiopia or Mali, and far above Western European countries such as France (358) or the United Kingdom (191).
Some Central Asian states, including Kyrgyzstan (147), Kazakhstan (136) and Tajikistan (63), also report much lower incidence than Russia.
Regional hotspots
Russia’s Health Ministry recently identified the regions with the fastest-growing infection rates.
At the top is the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug with 79.1 new cases per 100,000 people, followed by the Irkutsk region (75.7) and Samara region (73.7). The Altai and Kemerovo regions complete the top five. The lowest rates were recorded in Moscow, Ingushetia and Chechnya.
Officials say roughly 70 billion rubles a year are spent on HIV treatment.
Most infections occur through heterosexual contact, Pokrovsky noted, adding that Russia faces “a serious problem with late and incorrect treatment.”
Since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, HIV diagnostic test purchases have sharply declined, complicating detection efforts.
