| Gennady Onishchenko reminded the government about promises for HIV-infected people A week after the end of the G8 summit, Chief Sanitary Doctor Gennady Onishchenko decided to remind the Russian authorities of the promises made on behalf of the president and government in St. Petersburg. And in particular, that Russia has volunteered to become a leader in the fight against AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. With all the financial obligations arising from this status. That such reminders are necessary and that government leaders should be taken at their word can be judged by the fact that Mr. Onishchenko intends to spend the $40 million needed to build an international center to combat HIV/AIDS in Russia. in his words, “beg” from the Ministry of Finance. “This issue is now being considered by the government, where we have been assured that active work is underway to allocate funds,” he added, not very confidently.
Russia, as you know, came up with high-profile initiatives at the summit on the issue of combating infectious diseases. In particular, a country that had recently been working on issues of international loans to combat HIV infection suddenly announced that it no longer needed outside help. Russia has asked to no longer consider itself a “recipient” of the World Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, since it intends to be its donor. To demonstrate the seriousness of their intentions, the authorities even pledged to send $270 million to the fund by 2010 to combat these diseases as compensation for previously received assistance. Another initiative supported by the G8 leaders was the proposal to create a regional coordination mechanism for the development of a vaccine against HIV infection in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
As the chief sanitary doctor said yesterday, it has yet to be decided on the basis of which Russian institute the center will be created. According to him, currently about seven research institutions are working on the problem of HIV/AIDS in Russia, including the Vector scientific center in Novosibirsk, which was testing two so-called candidate vaccines, the Institute of Immunology in Moscow and St. Petersburg university.
True, Russia, which aspires to the role of leader, will have to pay a lot of attention to solving the problems of HIV-infected people within the country. According to Gennady Onishchenko, “the epidemic is growing, spreading across the entire population.” Moreover, in recent years, the infection has spread not only among injection drug users, but increasingly through sexual contact. “We have to seriously change our attitude to this issue, including from the point of view of personal safety, to be committed to family principles,” noted the chief sanitary doctor. True, HIV infection in Russia mainly affects people under 30 years of age, who often have no family or foundations yet. As Mr. Onishchenko put it, young people have “a physical need that is difficult to stop with the reasoning of old men like me.” “And here we must not take it with hypocrisy, but simply explain it,” he said.
In total, in Russia, according to official statistics, which are many times lower than expert estimates, there are now 340 thousand HIV-infected people. However, as it turned out, not all of them are eager to be treated. Despite the fact that within the framework of the national project “Health” in 2006-2007 funds were allocated for the treatment of 45 thousand HIV-infected people, patients, according to the chief sanitary doctor, are reluctant to go to medical institutions. “Today, HIV-infected people are afraid to go for treatment, they are afraid of publicity, persecution,” Onishchenko said. Therefore, out of 15 thousand patients who could have had an expensive course of treatment paid for from the budget in 2006, so far only 7.5 thousand people have applied to medical institutions. Irina BELASHEVA |
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