Olga Ingurazova - How Social Conservatism Fueled Russia’s HIV Epidemic
In January 2016,
Russia registered its millionth HIV-positive person, a 26-year-old woman. Actual
numbers are likely much higher, according to health experts. Across much of the
world, including the United States, the rate of HIV is declining, thanks to
strategic programs like clean needle exchanges, increased awareness and better
access to anti-retroviral therapy. In the U.S., for example, the
annual number of overall HIV diagnoses decreased by 5 percent between 2011 and
2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
But that’s not the case in Russia: Here, the rate of HIV infections
is rising faster than in sub-Saharan Africa, host to the world’s largest HIV
epidemic, where an international effort has slashed the rate of new HIV infections. Vadim Pokrovsky, head
of Moscow’s Federal AIDS Center, has called Russia’s HIV epidemic a “national
catastrophe,” using language rarely uttered by government officials, let alone
the loathed, politically charged “e” word: epidemic.
Russia’s growing HIV
crisis is seemingly no match for the Orthodox Church, which preaches faith and
family values as the cure-all for the virus. A burgeoning alliance between
Russian President Vladimir Putin and the church in recent years has fueled an
environment where sexual education in schools is forbidden, clean needle
programs are shunned as sinful and attacks on women’s and gay rights are
state-sanctioned.
“In Russia, the church
and the state go together,” said Ivanova, the HIV-positive activist, shaking
her head. “They talk about how sexual education will only worsen the [HIV] problem.
It’s a wave — you really feel it.”.. read more:
