Russia faces a shortage of anti-HIV treatments

They talk about disaster. For associations of HIV-positive people, this is unheard of in Russia since 2011: they receive testimonies from almost everywhere in the country from patients whose treatment has just been interrupted due to lack of medication. Concretely, antiretroviral treatments are lacking in many regions of the country. And the situation seems to have deteriorated further in recent months.

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Svetlana, a community activist, herself HIV positive, deplores the lack of coverage for patients in Russia: “As a patient, I am constantly worried, I always ask myself: “Will I have medicines tomorrow? Will I have access to free treatment? Many people only see these medicines in dreams…”

Public policies singled out

Russia is, however, the fifth country in the world where the epidemic is progressing the fastest. According to the latest available figures, around 1.5% of the population is HIV positive. But less than two-thirds of them receive regular treatment.

In a context of ultra-conservative withdrawal, public policies do not target the people most affected, as Olga Maximov, coordinator of Médecins du Monde in Russia, points out. “Prevention is only carried out by a few Russian associations, thanks to the support of international partners“, specifies Olga Maximov.

“There is no public prevention policy for key populations: drug users, sex workers, and men who have sex with men.”

Olga Maximov, coordinator of Médecins du Monde in Russia

at franceinfo

It is difficult to say that the shortage observed is the consequence of sanctions or the departure of certain foreign laboratories which no longer supply drugs to Russia. For its part, the government denies that there is a shortage and affirms that local production of antiretrovirals is sufficient.