THE EPIDEMIC SITUATION OF HIV INFECTION IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN 2019

In recent years, the number of new HIV infection cases and that of AIDS-related deaths have been decreasing in the world, whereas the number of people living with HIV has been constantly growing. Objective. To describe the epidemic situation of HIV infection in the Russian Federation in 2019. Results. The HIV epidemic continued to grow rapidly in the Russian Federation. By the end of 2019, a total of 1,426,976 HIV infection cases detected by immunoblotting were registered among the citizens of the Russian Federation; 355,160patients died. In 2019, the incidence of HIV infection was 66.6 per 100,000population, while the prevalence of HIV infection was 730.4. The disease has spread outside the vulnerable population groups and is actively spreading in the general population. In the past 2 years, there has been a decline in the incidence of HIV infection along with the extended HIV testing. A total of40,580,588 blood samples (27.6% of the population) were tested for HIV in Russia in 2019. The share of vulnerable population groups remains low among those tested for HIV. The prevalence of HIV infection is particularly high among these groups (injecting-drug users; men who have sex with men). Conclusion. In 2019, in the Russian Federation, the generalized epidemic process of HIV infection continued and the number of registered patients living with HIV and the incidence of HIV infection increased due to a significant number of new cases. Along with the active spread of HIV among the general population, its detection rate remains high and the prevalence of HIV is growing among the most vulnerable groups.

HIV infection, incidence, prevalence, testing coverage, Russian Federation