russia’s HIV Prevention Foundation Left Without State Funding

The AIDS.CENTER Foundation which fought HIV in the rf, has lost state support – the kremlin has decided to spend money on the war in Ukraine rather than on saving the lives of its citizens. In 2024, the Foundation twice failed to receive funding from either the Presidential Grants Fund or the moscow Department of Labor and Social Protection. As a result, the most important services are now under threat of closure: rapid testing, a hotline, emergency kits with antiretroviral medicines, and educational media projects.

The situation is getting worse as the epidemic spreads: according to official data, there were 1.2 million people with HIV in russia at the end of 2023, with 1.7 million cases diagnosed since monitoring began, of which about 500,000 ended in death. Every year, about 60,000 new infections are registered, while purchases of diagnostic tests in 2023 decreased by almost a third.

As a result, the closure of AIDS.CENTER may seriously weaken the prevention system, especially in the most affected regions – Chukotka, Kuzbass, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk, Tomsk, and Novosibirsk regions, as well as the Perm and Altai Territories.

Please, be reminded that the rf has the highest percentage of HIV-positive people in Europe – 1.5 %.