Academician Pokrovsky pointed to the high mortality rate of able-bodied Russians from HIV

Vadim Pokrovsky, head of the Federal Scientific and Methodological Center for the Prevention and Control of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) at the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor's Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, told TASS on December 15 that about 30,000 young Russians of working age die of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) every year.

"If we lose 30,000 people a year of young age, able-bodied people who can work for another 20-30 years, there are such additional losses here," the expert told TASS.

He also added that the need to use the HIV prevention drug Lenacapavir in the Russian Federation will be one of the principal issues to be discussed in the coming years.

"We don't have the opinion of the Ministry of Health that it is necessary to use drugs to prevent infection (HIV. - Ed.), because they are mainly used by people who have a high risk of infection, so they themselves should take care of their health. But I think that this is not quite the right approach, because as a result the whole health care and health economy will suffer," said Pokrovsky.

At the moment, about 70 billion rubles are spent on treatment of people with HIV infection, said the academician, and also emphasized that with the increase in the number of patients will increase the costs of their treatment.

Earlier, December 1, Rospotrebnadzor said about the decline in HIV testing among vulnerable groups. Vadim Pokrovsky, head of the specialized research department of epidemiology and AIDS prevention at the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, called it an alarming signal that people living with HIV are increasingly found among the rural population and those who live in regions remote from the center. According to him, this may indicate an epidemic of the disease.