Epidemic: AIDS to claim 1,000,000 lives in Russia by 2010

One million people will have died of AIDS in Russia by 2010, and there are now 101,976 people infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS in Russia, Vadim Pokrovsky, head of the Federal Center for AIDS Prevention, announced at a Wednesday press conference. However, he cautioned, according to his figures "the most probable number" of people infected with HIV in Russia is 650,000. "The number of those infected tripled last year, and this year their number will reach 1 million," Interfax reports. He said he believes that "the only way out for Russia is to create a national salvation committee headed by a prominent government figure." "In Brazil, for example, such a committee was headed by the president," he noted.