Russia’s HIV Deaths Hit 30K Per Year, Undermining Dwindling Labor Force - The Moscow Times
www.themoscowtimes.com
Around 30,000 Russians of working age die annually from HIV, according to Vadim Pokrovsky, the head of Russia’s Federal Methodological Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention.

Summary

Russia loses 30,000 working-age citizens annually to HIV, with 1.7 million total infections and nearly 500,000 deaths to date.

The epidemic strains the economy as treatment costs reach $670 million annually, compounded by shortages of antiretroviral drugs and gaps in early testing.

Heterosexual transmission now dominates, though marginalized groups like drug users, sex workers, and gay men remain disproportionately affected.

Reduced funding for HIV testing and inconsistent treatment availability hinder efforts to curb the epidemic, posing critical public health and economic challenges for Russia.

  • floofloofEnglish
    49·
    22 hours ago

    “If each year we lose 30,000 young, able-bodied people who could work for another 20-30 years, that is an additional loss [to the economy],” he said.

    Depressing that it has to be explained in terms of the economy to get people to care.

    • Gladaed@feddit.orgEnglish
      13·
      22 hours ago

      Caring and prioritizing may be different. Having concrete numbers can enable decision makers to convince others.

      Something being the right thing to do is not a convincing argument.

        • Gladaed@feddit.orgEnglish
          1·
          3 hours ago

          Gotta make some judgements for human lives/money at some point.

          E.g. safety at you place of work. There is some middle ground between working naked at a steel smelter and covered in protective gear at your desk job. Some times people have differing opinions.

          The mean value of a Russian life is rather low. So it may actually seem close to some.

  • athairmor@lemmy.worldEnglish
    33·
    22 hours ago

    Are they still in the HIV denial phase? That’s about 40 years behind. The rest of the world has a couple people cured and are close to a vaccine.

    • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      31·
      21 hours ago

      They stopped tracking HIV deaths a decade or two ago when it became apparent that the Russian government doesn’t fucking care, largely because they are thinking of it in a (hilariously ironic) Reagan-esque mentality of it being a “gay disease”. And the Russian government HATES gay people.

          • fibojoly@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            4·
            5 hours ago

            You have an embarassed billionaire healthcare.
            “It’s the best in the world! I just don’t have access to it right now. But once I do, you’ll see!” they say, trying to decide between bleeding to death and the ambulance.

          • Buffalox@lemmy.worldEnglish
            41·
            13 hours ago

            If that isn’t an oxymoron, it’s as close as it gets.
            A healthcare system not providing healthcare can’t be said to have good healthcare.
            Just because SOME people receive good healthcare, doesn’t mean the healthcare is good overall or on average.

            Maybe it could hypothetically be the case that the system is bad but the care is good overall, but that is certainly NOT the case regarding healthcare in USA.
            It’s absolutely justified to say healthcare in USA is on the level of a third world country. Cheap rhetoric doesn’t change that.