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Watchdog reports six-time decrease of HIV infection rates in Russia

The HIV infection rates in Russia have decreased six times in five years

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/. The HIV infection rates in Russia have decreased six times in five years, said Anna Popova, head of the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, at the Fourth Conference on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

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"We’ve managed to achieve a considerable reduction in the HIV infection rates. In 2017 the infection rate was just 2%, whereas in 2012 it was 13.4%," she said.

The number of HIV-positive teenagers and young people also reduced, she said: from 1.6% in 2012 to 1% in 2017 among people aged 15-20 and from 35.3% in 2012 to 20% in 2017 among those aged 20-30.

"In 2017 34,080,000 people were examined. The span of the HIV examination also grew 1.3 times since 2012," Popova added.

The Fourth Conference on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is being held in Moscow on April 18-20. The Conference is being attended by about 3,000 delegates from 53 countries: the experts will discuss how to contain the HIV epidemic. The conference was organized by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) and the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing.

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