Over 70,000 New HIV Cases Registered in Russia

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, November 27, 2001

Over 70,000 New HIV Cases Registered in Russia

In the first 10 months of 2001, over 70,000 new cases of HIV infection have been registered in Russia, which are approximately 1.6 times more than in the same period last year, a top Russian health expert announced Monday.

Academician Vadim Pokrovsky, director of the Russian Federal Center for HIV and AIDS Prevention, told a new conference that the actual number of new HIV cases may reach some 100,000 in 2001.

According to Pokrovsky, from January 1987 to late November 2001, some 163,000 HIV cases (including 2,252 children) were registered in Russia. 1,655 HIV-infected people, including 136 children, died in this period.

Pokrovsky also said 1,141 HIV-infected children were born to women infected with HIV between January 1987 and November 2001. In 2001 alone, 502 children were born to HIV-infected mothers.

Russia suffered the highest HIV infection rate in Europe, making Russian experts seven times more likely than their Western counterparts to contract the virus.