EU medical experts blame the HIV spread in Central Asia and Eastern Europe on “Russian influence”

Since 2010, new diagnoses of HIV in Eastern European and Central Asia countries have risen by 20 per cent, while deaths related to Aids have increased by 34 per cent, accounting for the fastest-growing rate worldwide.

The disease is found among the so-called “key population,” including sex workers, the LGBTQ+ community, and drug users.

While in Europe the crisis has seen a significant decrease in the use of therapies such as opioid replacement therapy, its prohibition and the legal condemnation of non-heterosexual relations in Russia and the neighbouring countries have been the cause of the continuing spread of HIV, report European health experts.

EU medical experts disagree with Russia over HIV treatments

Special Adviser to WHO Europe, Michel Kazatchkine reported to the Press that Russian influence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is “clear and growing,” causing an increase in HIV cases, due to the countries´ strengthened security services and interior ministries. “It´s further funding propaganda, and it´s conducting a rapid Russification of occupied territories,” argued Kazatchkine.

As opioid agonist therapy is becoming extinct in Kazakhstan, Kazatchkine met with the country´s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to advocate for its benefits and reported; “The president told us that he hears from some that it is effective, that it is safe, that it is linked to the western world and he hears from others (unspecified) that it is ineffective, that it is keeping a population on narcotics and that it is against the traditional and national values and to be combated.”

Opioid replacement therapy involves replacing an illegal opiate with longer-acting and less damaging opioids, such as switching heroin to methadone. While this method was found effective in reducing the risk of HIV infection among drug users, it cannot be applied to cases free from addiction. In Russia and many other Eastern European countries, this therapy is prohibited due to claims that it does nothing but sustain an addiction, only transitioning to legal drugs.

Are Central Asia and Eastern Europe copying Russia?

Despite the prohibition of the treatment in Russia. all Central Asian and Eastern European countries use the HAART (highly active antiretroviral) therapy, maintaining the function of the immune system and preventing further infections in Aids patients.

Arguing that in his speech, the Khazak President referred to Russia in the “others,” WHO´s Special Adviser Michel Kazatchkine highlighted the implications of the “foreign agent” laws in Russia and its neighbouring countries, arguing that it is another reason for the growing crisis. These laws target charities and NGOs that receive foreign funding, requiring special registration and declaration of being “foreign agents,” which has caused many organizations to cease their efforts in the country.

Kazatchkine emphasized that the Russian organizations funded overseas which focus on LGBTQ+ rights and anti-stigmatization of HIV, then collapse and lose their touch with residents in need of guidance, leading to misunderstanding of Aids and a hostile treatment to those affected. He argued that Russia´s condemnation of non-traditional relationships has resulted in most people affected by HIV becoming unwilling and scared to seek medical assistance and has “influenced” the nations nearby.

Yet in Russia and its neighbouring nations, HIV is not only found among men but in large quantities in women, teens, and even children, being caused by poor medical sanitation, among other reasons. Moreover, with Central Asia being mainly Islamist and unwelcoming to the LGBTQ+, it is unlikely that countries such as Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, are swayed by Russia; rather, they follow their national and religious values.