Pubdate: Fri, 09 Jun 2006
Source: Moscow Times, The (Russia)
Section:  Issue 3429. Page 3
Copyright: 2006 The Moscow Times
Contact:  http://www.moscowtimes.ru/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/903
Author:  Anastasiya Lebedev,  Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)

AIDS OFFICIALS SKIRT HARDEST-HIT GROUPS

The nation's chief epidemiologist and State Duma deputies pledged 
support Thursday for the war on AIDS but avoided discussing hard-hit 
groups such as prostitutes, drug users and homosexuals, in contrast 
with officials from other countries, including China and India.

Their comments came at a conference featuring lawmakers from Germany, 
Britain, China, India and Brazil in advance of the G8 summit, where 
AIDS is expected to be prominently discussed.

Chief epidemiologist Gennady Onishchenko and Tatyana Yakovleva, head 
of the Duma's Public Health Committee, warned the disease was 
spreading into the general public and stressed the need for vaccines 
and free treatment for those who were infected. Onishchenko added 
that HIV would be extensively discussed at the Group of Eight summit 
in St. Petersburg in July.

Russia has 340,000 officially registered AIDS cases. International 
estimates put the figure at over 1 million.

But unlike their counterparts from other countries who spoke of 
"injecting drug users" and "men having sex with men," Onishchenko and 
Yakovleva employed a more traditional vocabulary: They used the term 
"addicts" to describe drug users, and Onishchenko referred to sex 
between men as "the unnatural way."

Yakovleva said that at least half of the approximately $100 million 
allocated in Russia for fighting AIDS this year would go toward 
prevention, including by raising awareness and providing testing. 
Asked about prevention among drug users, who account for the majority 
of new infections in Russia, she made it clear the government would 
not accommodate their habit.

"We categorically oppose substitution therapy," Yakovleva said, 
referring to a program that has been popular in the West for decades 
that involves giving heroine users methadone.

Substitution therapy is supported by officials from the UNAID program 
and the World Health Organization as an important tool in battling 
drug addiction and the spread of HIV.

Lawmakers from other countries, by contrast, said needle-exchange and 
substitution-therapy programs were part of their anti-HIV efforts. 
They also discussed the need to provide treatment to people who took 
part in illegal activities such as drug use and prostitution.

Despite reluctance to adopt more current tactics to battle the 
disease, Yakovleva did note that Russian regions would be able to 
decide on their own whether to fund needle-exchange programs with 
federal money. Russian AIDS activists at the Eastern European and 
Central Asian AIDS Conference held in Moscow in May repeatedly 
complained about the scarcity of such prevention programs for drug users.

AIDS activist Mikhail Rukavishnikov criticized the government's 
opposition to substitution therapy, saying it was time to catch up 
with the rest of the world.

One country that has embraced substitution therapy is China. Li 
Honggui, a Chinese lawmaker, said his government had made reaching 
out to high-risk groups a priority. Needle exchanges are also 
available in China, he said.

Indian lawmakers said they were working on a bill that would prohibit 
discrimination against people with AIDS and make it easier for 
prostitutes, drug users and others involved in illegal activities to 
get health care.

Arash Alaei, who works with people with AIDS and other diseases in 
Iran, said the conservative Islamic state's denial of the existence 
of drug use and prostitution in the country, coupled with 
stigmatization, led to high rates of suicide among those with HIV. He 
added that resistance to testing had contributed to the spread of the disease.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman