The HIV epidemic has affected nearly 30 regions of Russia and has spread beyond risk groups — “Medvestnik” with a link to Rospotrebnadzor

The HIV epidemic has affected nearly 30 regions of Russia and has spread beyond risk groups — "Medvestnik" with a link to Rospotrebnadzor. The number of people with HIV continues to grow, and the virus is spreading not only among risk groups, but also among the general population of Russia. Among men aged 40 to 50, the virus is detected in more than 3%, and in medical institutions the transmission rate of the infection has reached a record high in recent years.

The main factor in the transformation of the epidemiological process was a radical change in the main route of transmission of the infection. If in past years infection occurred mainly through injecting drug use, then in recent analytical data from sixty-six to seventy-five percent of all new cases are attributed to heterosexual contacts. This has led to the mass involvement of women of reproductive age and a significant shift in morbidity toward older cohorts.

The average age of an HIV-positive citizen has increased over the past fifteen years from thirty-two to forty-four. The most vulnerable group turned out to be men aged forty to fifty, among whom more than three percent of the population are infected with the virus, and in the forty- to forty-five age group this figure reaches four percent.

Why is the total number of infected people growing while the incidence rate is declining

According to statistical estimates by Rospotrebnadzor, the total number of Russians with a confirmed HIV diagnosis is between one million two hundred thirty-two thousand and one million two hundred fifty thousand people, which is equivalent to almost zero point eight percent of the country's population. In the age group from fifteen to fifty, the virus is infected every hundredth resident of Russia.. Although the incidence rate during the last reporting period fell by thirteen point four percent, the overall duration of the infection continues to increase.

Experts explain this paradox by the fact that for every fatal outcome there are one and a half new infections, as a result, the cohort of people living with the virus continues to grow. At the same time, annual mortality remains high, at around thirty-three to thirty-four thousand people, and HIV infection has become the leading cause of death among Russians of working age.

Nosocomial risks and systemic control issues

Serious concern among specialists is caused by the situation with the transmission of infection in medical institutions. According to Rospotrebnadzor, a record level of hospital-acquired infection outbreaks has been recorded over the past fifteen years with blood-borne infections. Epidemiological investigations revealed systematic, gross violations of sanitary rules, including the reuse of disposable medical instruments, non-sterile catheters, tomography and endoscopy equipment, as well as the use of a single personal glucometer for several patients. In addition, for the first time in six years, cases of HIV infection through transfusion of donor blood have been recorded.

Economic damage and resource constraints

The total economic damage from the HIV epidemic in Russia exceeds two hundred eighty billion rubles. The situation is complicated by the fact that only about half of infected people receive the necessary antiretroviral therapy and achieve sustained suppression of viral load. Approximately six hundred thousand people remain without continuous treatment, which creates conditions for the further hidden escalation of the epidemic. At the same time, the planned volumes of government funding for drug purchases for the coming years lag behind the actual rate of growth in the number of patients, which creates serious risks for the healthcare system and the country's biological security.