Russia’s heroin epidemic makes Aids risk spiral

Drug use in Russia is at epidemic level so serious that it threatens the nation’s existence, one of the country’s top officials has admitted."It's a threat to our national security, our society, and our civilisation itself," said Viktor Ivanov, Russia's top drugs official, at a meeting with reporters.

There are more than two million drug addicts in Russia, according to latest estimates. That amounts to one addict for every 50 Russians of working age, a level that is up to eight times higher than in EU countries. Most of these people are addicted to heroin which is reaches the country on its route from Afghanistan, through central Asia, and across the long border from Kazakhstan into Russia. There are people addicted to heroin across Russia's 11 time-zones, and the country's anti-drugs body says that Russia now uses more heroin than any other country in the world.

Mr Ivanov, who is closely linked to Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, blamed the occupation of Afghanistan and the "war on terror" for Russia's epidemic. He was today (Wednesday) due to call for more global co-operation in solving problems in Afghanistan at a special United Nations session on drugs, reported The Independent newspaper. Both government and public health officials agree that the epidemic of heroin addiction in Russia has reached terrifying proportions that could in the long run prove devastating. But while the government hints that the Western intervention in Afghanistan is the cause of Russia's drugs crisis, some critics claim the policy on drugs is a contributing to the epidemic.The country doesn’t use methadone as a substitute to treat addicts and needle and syringe exchanges are highly controversial. This drives other devastating epidemics in the country, such as hepatitis C and HIV/Aids.

Russia has one of the fastest-growing HIV epidemics in the world, with more than one million people thought to be HIV positive in the country. Ten years ago, the epidemic was mainly spread within the drug-using community, but now more than half of new cases are sexually transmitted, as the disease spreads across the population at large.

Preventing HIV / Aids is a key priority for SOS children. By fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS, SOS Children strives to prevent children from losing their parents to AIDS in the first place. The organisation works hard to reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with the illness.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children