MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. The scope of HIV testing in Russia has reached 27.8% of the population in 2019: more than 40.8 million people have found out their HIV status, says Natalya Kostenko, head of the Health Ministry's Department of Emergency Medical Aid and Health Risks Control.
"In 2019, the scope of HIV testing has reached 27.8%, which means more than 40.8 million people have discovered their HIV status. This is 6.3% more than last year. This is one of the highest scores in the world," she said during a State Duma Healthcare Committee meeting.
In 2018, the HIV testing scope was 25.9%.
According to Kostenko, the HIV situation in Russia has stabilized, and incidence growth rate slowed down. In 2019, 80,118 new HIV cases were registered, which is 7.5% less than last year, she said.
"The highest infection rate is observed in people aged between 30 and 44. […] We also observe that the share of young people between 15 and 20 has reduced from 1.6% to 0.8%," she added.
Kostenko disclosed that 743,000 HIV-infected people are under dispensary supervision, and that more than 500,000 people receive anti-retrovirus therapy.
Health Minister Aide Lyalya Gabbasova disclosed that HIV testing scope grows by 2 million people every year.
"Every year, we add almost two million people to the testing scope. Health Ministry communications programs play a big role here," she said.
Gabbasova noted that the situation in key groups changes as well. Earlier, consumers of injection drugs were the biggest problem, while today, it is consumers of synthetic drugs, and this changes the ways of infection transmission. The share of injection and sexual transmission of the HIV are almost equal now, she said.
HIV Danger
HIV, also known as the human immunodeficiency virus, attacks the immune system and weakens people’s natural defenses against a wide array of diseases, including several types of cancer. The infection can be transferred via unprotected sexual contact, infected blood transfusion, and during use of infected syringe needles and other sharp objects by groups of people. The infection can also transfer from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. The last stage of HIV is AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), when human body loses its ability to fight infections and tumors.
According to the federal register of HIV-infected people, by January 1, 2019, there were slightly more than 715 thousand Russians under medical supervision.