Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - Thursday November 16, 2000
Tara FitzGerald
"This is really the time for action, particularly because AIDS is a serious problem among young people and so it's really a problem for Russia's future," World Bank country director for Russia, Michael Carter, told reporters.
Russian and foreign experts have warned the government that the spread of the disease could reach catastrophic proportions in Russia unless officials take quick action to reduce runaway growth rates.
"The World Bank is very pleased that we are able to work on (an AIDS) project that we will be supporting through a substantial loan of about $150 million," Carter said.
"We hope that the government will be ready to negotiate this loan early in the new year so we can provide support through that loan to the government's (AIDS) programme," Carter said.
The joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimated the number of HIV and AIDS sufferers in Russia to be 130,000 at the end of last year. But there is broad agreement that cases are significantly under-reported.
Arkadiusz Majszyk, UNAIDS representative in Russia, said on Wednesday Russia had the world's highest growth rate for AIDS. And UNAIDS called on donors to allocate at least $20 million over the next three years to stem the epidemic.
"Russia in a sense is fortunate in that AIDS is still at an early stage," the World Bank's Carter said.
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