In Russia, the HIV situation are described as a national disaster. The number of infections is increasing at a tremendous rate while the authorities turn a blind eye to the problem.

Russia

Still, we are treated as social pariahs, says HIV-positive Ekaterina to the Swedish newspaper Göteborgs-Posten.

Three mobile laboratories parked in a suburb of St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city. A loud voice of a speaker urges people to take a HIV test. Free and anonymous. The result is ready in five minutes. But most only walks past.

It is the NGO Humanitarian Aktion that once again are out on the town to inform the public. The organisation is one of the few in the past decade has been working daily to try to improve the situation.

One gets the impression that our authorities haven’t realised that is a disaster in progress. Apparently, we have to wait until the case gets five million in order to start taking action, says Sergey Dugin, director of the organisation.

The number of HIV carriers in Russia has doubled in the past five years. Officially there are now one million infected people in the country.

Read more at www.gp.se (Swedish)

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