The program, to be completed by late 2007, aims to prevent and control HIV/AIDS in Russia, with a focus on antiretroviral drugs and provision of safer blood transfusions, the coordinators said.
The first leg of the program will focus on prevention and public awareness campaigns, while the second leg will concentrate on measures to build up the capacity of health institutions involved in HIV/AIDS work.
The program will be implemented in four pilot regions across the country: St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad (Russia's exclave surrounded by the EU), Irkutsk (Siberia), and Krasnodar (southern Russia). Local medical personnel will be trained to administer antiretroviral drugs to HIV patients, and measures will be taken to raise the safety standards of local blood transfusion centers.
Vadim Pokrovsky, head of Russia's federal AIDS research center and a leading Russian expert on HIV/AIDS, said that thanks to the program, by the end of this year Russian health institutions would be able to provide medical treatment for as many as 40,000 HIV/AIDS patients, representing a more than tenfold increase on current figures.
According to official statistics, 346,123 Russians are infected with HIV/AIDS, although the real figure may be approaching one million, Pokrovsky said.
The Russian government has pledged $104 million for the fight against HIV/AIDS in 2006, more than twenty times as much as in 2005 ($4.5 million).
