introduction

The Eastern Europe and Central Asia region is experiencing the fastest growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the world. In 2003 alone, over 230,000 new infections were reported, bringing the total number to approximately 1.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the region.

The most severely afflicted countries in the region are Ukraine, the Russian Federation, and those comprising the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), however HIV is spreading widely through Belarus, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. UNAIDS currently estimates that almost one million people aged fifteen to forty-nine are living with the virus in the Russian Federation. Widespread use of intravenous drugs amongst youth drives the regions epidemic. Computed estimates regarding the matter determine there could be as many three million injecting drug users in the Russian Federation, and the percentage of the population using drugs in Ukraine is over 2%. The most troubling aspect of these numbers though, is the fact that these behavioral trends translate into an unusually, and exorbitantly high concentration of infection in young people in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. If not stemmed now, the crisis will continue to ravage the population and the youth so vital to the success of the region, of any region, will perish.

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global | australia and new zealand | caribbean | east asia and pacific | e.europe and central asia | latin america | middle east and north africa | north america | south and south east asia | sub-saharan africa |
western europe