HIV and AIDS
“Russia now accounts for over 55% of all new HIV infections reported in the European region”(Kazatchkine).
Although the 21st century HIV/AIDS crisis affects Russia, it is clearly an unanticipated consequence of decades of political instability coupled with the influence of intolerant religious views. The virus leaves many who are afflicted with a lifetime of battling illness and expensive treatments, creating additional strains on Russia’s economy. As Russia’s government has shifted from an unhealthy power over its citizens through communism, the pendulum seems to have shifted too far in the other direction through individualism.
Given more freedom, without the openness of education regarding unintended consequences to increased drug use and unprotected sexual intercourse, Russian citizens have become susceptible targets of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. HIV/AIDS is a virus that weakens the immune system until the human body can no longer fend for itself, killing large parts of the population in certain countries (Eberstadt 22). The statistics are not entirely accurate, as they don’t capture those citizens who remain undiagnosed by neglecting to seek care. To be more specific, Moscow, New Delhi, and Beijing are the countries that are “unable (and unwilling) to monitor their respective HIV epidemics closely,” (Eberstadt 25). 25 million people who have been afflicted with HIV and AIDS have already died due to not receiving treatment. From this, human immunodeficiency virus could possibly end up as the century's top infectious killer (Eberstadt 22). As previously acknowledged, one can see the correlation between the HIV/AIDS trend and political shift. When citizens have been ruled for generations in a dictatorial fashion and are not given more personal freedoms without accompanying education as a framework for decision-making, the unintended health consequences can majorly impact the health and financial security of its citizens.
Alternatively, when this education is incorporated into a social structure, as in the implementation of assistance programs, citizens are better able to make decisions on the front-end and more recovery options on back-end. One such solution is the introduction of drug addicts to “harm reduction programmes,” for example, opioid substitution therapy or OST (Kazatchkine). With this solution, drug addicts are able to use drugs with clean needles instead of unsanitary and infected needles. Although this solution would not stop drug use overall, it would serve to reduce the number of HIV and AIDs diagnoses in Russia (Kazatchkine). Additionally, opioid substitution therapy, would substitute drugs, such as methadone or buprenorphine, for illicit drugs that could be more harmful for people. Overall, opioid substitution therapy would not cure drug usage entirely in Russia, but would make it safer, not only for drug addicts but for the general public with regard to the spread of disease. For the most part, OST has “saved the lives of millions of injecting drug users worldwide in the past 30 years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic”(Kazatchkine). By providing its citizens with alternative drug therapies and education, Russia may be able to find a solution to the current HIV/AIDS crisis, which is an unintended consequence of generations of unstable rule and resulting social stigma.
55%
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For instance, in 2004, 170, 000 people in the Russian Federation had HIV (Kazatchkine). In 2014, that number had grown to 1.2 million people reported to have HIV or AIDS in Russia. This number has increased, with 65 million people contracting the illness since then (Eberstadt 22). This figure is suspected to be a lower assessment of the true increase, as many cases have not been documented or treated by physicians.
As with the rise in HIV/AIDS cases resulting from illicit drug use, an increase in unprotected sex has contributed to the epidemic in Russia. Though an increase in diagnoses has been experienced at every age and socio-economic level, the sharpest increase has been among the gay male population (Eberstadt 25 ). As previously noted, the stigma of being LGBT in Russia has been a historically heavy burden, both from the political spectrum and the religious realm. As governmental shifts have clearly marked Russia with the current epidemic, so too has religious alignment played a role. Citizens may not seek care, making it difficult to gauge the true toll on the health of Russia’s citizens and the economic impact of political instability.
While HIV and AIDS affects Russia at present, in the past it was not such a wide-scale problem. But historical shifts have affected the country beyond health consequences. For example, Post-Soviet Russia faced, “failure of its banking system, currency de-valuation, corruption and the emergence of widespread joblessness and poverty,” (Amirkhanian 107). The compounding effect of a health crisis and economic strife is political conflict, most notably the Chechen War.
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In Russia, more than one million people are drug users, and from that number 150,000 people use needles containing heroin and cocaine. (Eberstadt 25 ).
