HIV in Russia: incomplete data

After years of opacity, Russia now annually provides figures for new HIV diagnoses to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control; whose latest report indicates that there were 58,340 new HIV diagnoses in 2021, compared to more than 48,000 in the rest of the WHO European region as a whole. This is, in fact, an improvement on the situation six years ago, when Russia alone accounted for nearly two-thirds of Europe’s HIV cases. But because Russia has only 18% of the population of the WHO region, that’s nearly six times as many new diagnoses per capita as in the rest of the region, and well over ten times the rate of new diagnoses in the European Union. Put simply, one in 2,475 Russians was diagnosed with HIV in 2021, compared to one in 15,536 in the rest of the region. There are few epidemiological data on HIV in Russia on a national scale. This is partly due to the deliberate lack of transparency by the Russian authorities, but also because data regarding HIV findings, the number of HIV-related deaths and HIV prevalence figures are all collected by different authorities and are not are not necessarily shared. Additionally, due to Russia’s culture of stigmatizing key affected populations, comprehensive statistics on likely modes of transmission are not collected. In an article published on Aidsmap, journalist Gus Cairns deciphers the study carried out by Dr Zlatko Nikoloski and his colleagues at the London School of Economics (United Kingdom). This analysis reveals both a sharp increase in HIV-related deaths in Russia since 2000 and huge differences in HIV-related deaths and HIV prevalence between different provinces of the federation. Modes of HIV transmission in Russia remain predominantly sex between men and women and the use of injection drugs. However, it is important to emphasize that 55% of HIV cases in Russia have no declared mode of transmission. Moreover, in a country where homophobia remains deeply rooted in society, the proportion of diagnoses attributed to men who have sex with men (MSM) seems to be under-reported (only 1.5%), while the rate of HIV diagnoses among men not reporting injection drug use is significantly higher than among women. Already in 2011, UNAIDS indicated that the prevalence of HIV among MSM in Russia and Ukraine was 8%. Find the mistake…