Russia has the largest HIV epidemic in Europe, and accounts for around two-thirds of the cases in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. There were an estimated 940,000 people living with HIV at the end of 2005 in Russia – up from 760,000 in 2003 – this figure looks set to increase even further.

It is widely acknowledged that Russia’s official statistics represent only a fraction of the actual number of HIV infected Russians. Most experts estimate that the true number is somewhere between 1.5 and 2 million – or over 2 percent to the population.

Epidemiologists warn that up to 8 million Russians, or over 10 percent of the adult population, could be infected by 2010. The epidemic is growing fastest among young people age 15-30, the same group that should be leading Russia into the 21st century. 

Many times when we think of HIV, we think of Africa. But this plague is killing millions throughout the entire world.