KALININGRAD, Russia, Sept 6 (AFP) - Russia's First Lady Lyudmila Putina added her personal plea Friday to the fund-raising campaign for a new hospital and kindergarten for HIV patients in Russia's Kaliningrad enclave.
"This campaign against the spread of AIDS and drugs logically starts here, in Kaliningrad, where Russia's first case of this horrible disease was registered," Putina told some 10,000 people assembled for the charity pop concert.
Putina, herself a native of Kaliningrad, made her one-day trip to the enclave to take part in the campaign, which aims to raise enough money to finance the local administration's efforts in combatting the disease.
75,000 new cases of HIV infection were recorded in Russia from January to November last year, with a total of 160,000 people infected, though health officials and non-governmental organizations have repeatedly warned that the true figure may be more than 20 times as big.
Eighty percent of all infections are caused by drug users sharing dirty needles, health officials said.
Government officials said some 500,000 people have been officially registered as drug users in Russia, and 72 percent were under the age of 30. Medical specialists suggest that the true scale of addiction is far higher.
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