Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning a program for the prevention of HIV
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a decision at the state level to provide support to sex workers, as well as former criminals, drug addicts and homosexuals. This support will be expressed in preventing the spread of HIV infection in the country, because these categories of citizens are particularly susceptible to HIV due to their specific lifestyle. First of all, the President decided to reduce the price of medicines for HIV-infected people and expand the scale so that 90% of patients receive the necessary therapy and full treatment.
As for the prevention of HIV infection, the state will work with citizens of the risk group: prostitutes, drug addicts, convicts and persons of non-traditional sexual orientation. For these categories of citizens will be subject to regular and periodic health examinations, including tests for HIV infection. Vladimir Putin set a goal to fully develop a prevention program by 2023, taking into account the opinion of the Ministry of Health. By June 1, an official document will be ready in the Duma, which the President will only have to sign.
According to Rospotrebnadzor, more than a million carriers of the HIV virus live on the territory of the Russian Federation, and most of them (60%) are men. In order to prevent the growth of morbidity, a preventive program of work with the population is planned. It is important that people with HIV infection do not hide their diagnosis from doctors and receive timely treatment, and HIV-negative patients do not forget to regularly check their health.