Rospotrebnadzor said that HIV incidence in Russia has decreased by 27% over 10 years

In Russia, the incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has decreased by 27.1% over the last 10 years, and the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV has been virtually eliminated. 99% of children of infected women are born healthy. This was reported by Rospotrebnadzor on December 1.

"The country continues to scale up the HIV testing program. In 2023, 49 million blood samples of Russian citizens were examined, which is 74.8% more compared to 2014. In the first nine months of 2024, 38.5 million were examined for HIV, which is 6.8% more compared to the same period in 2023," the agency cites statistics.

Rospotrebnadzor reports that the fight against HIV infection consists of a large number of stages, and the first step on this path is prevention of the disease and early detection. To start treatment in time and not to jeopardize your health and others, it is enough to take blood for HIV antibodies once a year.

The agency reports that from December 1 to 5, 2024, the Center for Molecular Diagnostics (CMD) of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor is holding a campaign as part of World AIDS Day. Anyone can take a free test to determine antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus and find out their HIV status. Biomaterial collection is also free of charge.

All CMD medical offices and clinics participate in the campaign, where HIV counseling and testing will be organized for everyone.

In Russia and other countries, December 1 is World Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Day. It was established in 1988 by decision of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations General Assembly to raise people's awareness of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and AIDS, as well as to increase access to treatment and prevention measures. According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), there are about 39.9 million people with HIV worldwide in 2023. To date, it is impossible to completely cure this disease, but thanks to modern methods of therapy, people with immunodeficiency virus can live a full life.

Earlier, on August 5, Doctor of Medical Sciences Vladimir Neronov, an infectious disease doctor at JSC "Medicine" (the clinic of Academician Roitberg), told Izvestia that the results of trials of the drug for the prevention of HIV infection lenacapavir are amazing and give hope for the future. The drug has shown 100% effectiveness in pre-exposure prophylaxis and in the treatment of drug-resistant forms of HIV 1. The specialist noted that the fact of the drug's appearance is a breakthrough in the fight against the disease.