Over 220,000 HIV-infected people registered in Russia

A bit over 220,000 HIV-infected people are registered in Russia at present, said Gennady Onishchenko, Deputy Minister of Health of Russia, at a press-conference on Wednesday.

The press-conference was devoted to the World Aids Day marked on December 1.

According to the Russian Health Ministry, during the first 10 months of the current year 41,000 new cases were registered in Russia, which is 1.9 times less than during the same period last year, when there were 77,200 cases. At the same time, Onishchenko noted that the drop of the HIV-infections in the current year is connected with the toughening of measures by the law-enforcement bodies to lower the inflow of drugs to Russia.

Up to 90% of the newly-registered HIV patients were infected as a result of the intravenous use of drugs.

Arkadius Maisek, permanent representative of the joint UN AIDS program (UNAIDS), who attended the press-conference, said that he is satisfied to note a change of attitude to the problem of HIV and AIDS in Russia.