Number of HIV-Positive People in Russia Receiving Access to Antiretrovirals Increasing, Health Official Says

The number of people receiving access to antiretroviral drugs through a federal treatment program is increasing in Russia and now stands at more than 17,500 people, the country's top public health official, Gennady Onishchenko, said on Saturday, Interfax News Agency reports. Onishchenko added that there are 25,500 HIV-positive people receiving access to antiretrovirals from sources outside the federal program. According to Onishchenko, 58,000 HIV tests were carried out in the first quarter of 2007 for "monitoring of the quality of treatment." He said that health officials from several regions of the country plan to meet on May 11 to discuss the federal antiretroviral program and ways "to ensure uninterrupted provision" of drugs to people living with HIV/AIDS in the country (Interfax News Agency, 5/5).

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