Russia Urged to Change AIDS Strategy
AIDS experts meeting in Russia urged the country Wednesday to change its abstinence-only strategy and incorporate drug replacement therapies like methadone to help fight the spread of HIV/AIDS among drug users.
The chief public health officer for Russia resisted the appeals at the regional AIDS conference, according to the Associated Press . Gennady Onishchenko said the country is “emphatically against” the use of drug replacement therapy, which proponents say has proven effective elsewhere.
UNAIDS officials express concern that Russia faces a surge in HIV/AIDS fueled in part by rising drug use.
