| The Russian government's "draconian" drug policies contribute
to the country's growing HIV/AIDS epidemic, according to a Human Rights Watch report
released Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reports (Agence
France-Presse,
4/28). The 62-page HRW report, titled "Lessons Not Learned: Human
Rights Abuses and HIV/AIDS in the Russian Federation," says that
Russia's "harsh" drug policies and "routine" police harassment of
injection drug users -- the population most affected by HIV/AIDS in the
country -- limit access to HIV prevention services, including
needle-exchange programs. In addition, the country's policies could
have "widespread consequences" because HIV is spreading from high-risk
groups into the general population, according to an HRW release
(HRW release, 4/28). The Russian Health Ministry's AIDS Prevention and
Treatment Center earlier this month released a report that found that
although the number of new HIV cases among injection drug users in
Russia is declining, the number of HIV cases linked to sexual
transmission is rising. The report also showed that approximately
280,000 HIV-positive people were living in Russia as of Jan. 1 (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report,
4/14). However, Vadim Pokrovsky, director of the AIDS Prevention and
Treatment Center, has said that the actual number of HIV cases in
Russia could be between 700,000 and 1.5 million (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/2).
Report Details, Recommendations
The report says that many HIV-positive injection drug users may be
reluctant to try to find clean needles because drug possession in
Russia is punishable by mandatory detention, according to Agence
France-Presse (Agence France-Presse,
4/28). In addition, needle exchange in prisons -- where HIV/AIDS is
"rampant" -- is prohibited, and the government also bars the use of
methadone, which is used widely for heroin-substitution therapy, the Associated
Press reports (Danilova, Associated Press,
4/28). The government also prohibits active drug users who are living
with HIV/AIDS from obtaining antiretroviral treatment, which is a
"counterproductive policy," according to the report. In addition,
HIV-positive drug users and other people living with the disease in
Russia face discrimination in the workplace and have difficulty
obtaining government services because the Russian government has
"invested so little" in public education campaigns focusing on
HIV/AIDS, according to the report. HRW HIV/AIDS Program Director Joanne
Csete said, "Instead of learning the basic lessons of how to fight AIDS
from countries that have older epidemics, the Russian government is
endangering the broader population by putting up barriers to HIV
prevention services for those most at risk." The report also calls on
Russia to reject its strict mandatory sentencing for small-time drug
users, reverse its ban on methadone use, expand access to
needle-exchange programs, allow drug users to receive antiretroviral
treatment and HIV/AIDS prevention education and subsidize public
education programs "to ensure that all Russians have access to
scientifically sound information on HIV/AIDS" (HRW release, 4/28).
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