AIDS threatens Russian social and economic security

At a meeting this week on the fight with AIDS, Russian Vice-Premier Alexander Zhukov said the AIDS epidemic threatens Russian social and economic security and the spread of the disease is no longer just a medical problem.

The current demographic situation now has implications for the social and economic security in the country and the fight to control the lethal disease increases expenditures of companies and the state, and is affecting economic growth.

Zhukov says the Russian government understands the scale and importance of this problem. He stressed the importance of the role of pharmaceutical companies and called on successful businessmen to invest in the development of medicines and the search for a vaccine against AIDS.

Mikhail Zurabov, Minister of Health and Social Development, said that more than 300,000 people, a minimal figure, are officially registered as AIDS-affected people and around 35,000 people are ill with AIDS in Russia, a slight decrease from figures in previous years. He says the scale of the problem remains quite serious.