Russians now able to monitor their HIV status thanks to NGOs

17.09.2020

People in the regions are starting to get HIV tested more regularly thanks to information on prevention being published by charities.

Five years ago, 28.3 million Russians were tested for HIV, whereas last year the figure had risen to 40.6 million, one and a half times as many, according to a study carried out by the Russian Agency for Health and Consumer Rights.

Experts attribute the increased public concern about their HIV status to the growing number of widespread information campaigns in which NGOs and charities have been involved. They have written about prevention measures, virus transmission and types of treatment which have been included in a variety of leaflets and booklets.

“Thanks to the large amount of publicly available information, many Russians now realise that it is possible to contract HIV by just one act of unprotected sex. Armed with this knowledge, they will be better able to protect themselves, as well as undergoing regular health checks”, said Lyubov Erofeeva, Director of the Association of Population and Development and obstetrician-gynaecologist.

Source: https://www.asi.org.ru/news/2020/09/23/prezident-zakonoproekt-praviteltvo-nko-podderzhka/