Russia has pledged that it will reimburse $270 million in aid allocated by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS for HIV prevention and treatment programmes between now and 2010.
"This support from the Russian government is a serious indication of the country's commitment to halting a growing public health threat due to HIV and TB within its own borders and around the world," said Richard Feachem, the Executive Director of the Global Fund. "Russia is making contributions to the Global Fund while also increasing its domestic budget for HIV and TB prevention and treatment programs."
The Russian government announced a major increase in funding for HIV treatment in 2006, allocating $156 million to AIDS treatment and prevention and promising to provide treatment free of charge. Russia has at least 335,000 people already diagnosed with HIV infection, and some epidemiologists estimate the country could have around one million HIV-positive people already.
Since 2002, the Global Fund has approved five grants for Russia to fight AIDS and TB. During that time, Russia has begun to significantly increase its domestic spending on HIV.
In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the Global Fund is now the largest external donor for efforts to prevent and treat HIV and tuberculosis, having already committed more than US$ 700 million in the region.
However, Global Fund programmes have been able to reach only 3,200 people with antiretroviral treatment, according to a Global Fund press release. The majority of Global Fund-supported activity has focused on HIV testing and counselling, with more than 700,000 tests carried out.
Russia’s chief epidemiologist said last week that 15,000 Russians would have access to HIV treatment by the end of 2006, but admitted that the country faced serious problems in ensuring reliable supplies of antiretroviral drugs, especially in areas not covered by Global Fund programmes.
Russian and Eastern European AIDS activists from the group Front AIDS staged a demonstration during Sunday’s summit meeting and called for an end to intellectual property restrictions that they say are preventing access to treatment in the region. Thirty-seven demonstrators were arrested.