On November 30, Love by the Rules, a punk rock concert dedicated to the World AIDS Day, was held in the Z.efir night club in Petrozavodsk. The event was organized by the Republican Infectious Diseases Hospital. According to the medical institution, there is an increase in the incidence of HIV infection in the Republic of Karelia.
«Communities make a difference» is the theme of the World AIDS day in 2019. Punk rock concert and dance music festival called Love by the Rules was held in Petrozavodsk to attract the attention of young people to this problem. The Republican Infectious Diseases Hospital and the Z.efir night club were the organizers.
During the concert, anyone could undergo anonymous short-term HIV testing, get information about the disease, individual consultation and contraceptives. Specialists of the AIDS Center — its head Inna Rozhkova and medical psychologist Arina Arkhipova — conducted testing. One of the doctors of the Center could be seen on the stage as a musician.
According to Ekaterina Kovalenko, the acting Deputy head of the AIDS Center, 150 thousand people were examined in Karelia in 2019 for the early detection of HIV infection. As of November 1, 2019, 2.5 thousand HIV-infected people were registered in the Republic. For nine months, experts have identified 201 new cases of infection. This is 11.7% more than in the same period last year.
As of November 1, 2019, 1476 patients are registered at the AIDS Сenter of Karelia, most of whom (991 people, or 67%) receive antiviral therapy. During the entire monitoring period, 371 HIV-infected patients died in Karelia, 11.5% of them — due to the development of AIDS.
December 1 is the World AIDS day. It was established to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and as the day of remembrance for the victims of this disease. The number of people with HIV in Russia has exceeded 1 million people, according to the Center for Combating AIDS at Rospotrebnadzor. Only 72% of all people with HIV in Russia in 2018 were registered at the dispensary. Russia is the third country in the world in terms of the growth rate of HIV infection.
