“HIV prevalence continues to rise in the Baltic States, Russian Federation, and Ukraine. In Central Asia, the epidemic is expanding rapidly.”

	230,000 people were infected in 2003
	1.5 million have the virus in this region
	30,000 people were killed due to AIDS

There are several key factors driving the rapid expansion of the HIV virus:

	Unsafe sex and injecting drug use are widespread
	“According to one survey in the Russian Federation, fewer than half of teenagers aged 16-20 used condoms when having sex with casual partners.”
	There also is the concern that unprotected sexual activity between homosexuals is on the upswing, which is adding another venue of infection.

Ramped injecting drug use combined with ever rising levels of unsafe sex, with multiple partners is causing an explosion of HIV infections.

Notes:

* This mark indicates that this chart came directly from the UNAIDS (2003) AIDS epidemic update, December Report, the report can be accessed from the second link below, once you have reached the UNAIDS website, click the first link in the column on the right hand side

Resources:

1. Kanabus, Annabel. 14 Feb 2004. AVERT. 14 Feb 2004. < http://www.avert.org/ >.
2. UNAIDS: The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. 14 Feb 2004. < http://www.unaids.org/ >.