Kaliningrad: Russian AIDS Activists Demand Treatment

On October 12, 2004, activists from the organization Front AIDS demonstrated in Kaliningrad, Russia, chaining themselves to the doors of the city administration building to raise awareness about the urgent need for accessible HIV treatment in the country. "We cannot remain silent witnesses to the tragedy of people who are practically sentenced to death due to the absence of antiretroviral treatment," said Alexander Rumyantsev of the St. Petersburg NGO "Delo."

Fourteen of the protesters were arrested and taken to the local police jail. Over the next three hours, the police department was flooded with faxes and phone calls from sympathetic organizations in Russia, Europe, and the United States. They were released soon after and fined 500 rubles each (roughly USD 17) for demonstrating without a permit. Front AIDS held a follow-on press conference today in Moscow.

The Russian Federal AIDS Center estimates that today over 1 million people in Russia live with HIV. Fifty-six thousand of them are in urgent need of treatment, but only 1,300 receive it. Some 80% of HIV+ people were infected through injection drug use. Medical providers are often quick to deny HIV treatment to people with histories of drug use, despite the fact that international experience has shown treatment to be effective for drug users when it is designed to meet their specific needs.

Below is the press release from Front AIDS, in English and Russian.

Need help downloading a file or playing a clip? Click here.