HIV/AIDS in Russia

HIV/AIDS in Russia is described by some researchers as an epidemic. The first cases of human immunodeficiency virus infection were recorded in the USSR between 1985 and 1987. The first known patient, or patient zero, was officially considered to be a military interpreter who worked in Tanzania in the early 1980s and was infected though sexual contact with a local man. After the 1988–1989 Elista HIV outbreak, the disease became known to the general public and the first AIDS centers were established. In 1995–1996, the virus spread among injection drug users (IDUs) and quickly expanded throughout the country. By 2006, HIV had spread beyond the vulnerable IDU group, endangering their heterosexual partners and potentially threatening the broader population.

It is estimated that, in 2017, the Russian Federation had the highest number of HIV-positive people of any country in Europe. In the following five years, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing estimated that the number of new infections ranged from 70,000 to 100,000 annually. By the end of 2021, there were 1.137 million HIV-positive people in the country, accounting for 1.5% of the adult population; 424.9 thousand people died during the entire history of the epidemic. Nevertheless, most experts believe that the real number of HIV-positive people is significantly higher, as many carriers of HIV remain undiagnosed.