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In Global Decline of HIV, Russia Stands Apart — Crisis Worsens Under War and Conservative Pressure
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![Photo of Roman Kohanets]( "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
Russia’s escalating war expenditures are fueling a parallel public health crisis as critical HIV treatment and prevention programs are starved of resources, according to a July 30 report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The shift in budget priorities—driven by sustained military mobilization and defense spending—has directly impacted the country’s HIV epidemic, now the worst in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Officially, over 1.2 million Russians live with HIV, but the true number may be considerably higher. Since 2022, the Kremlin has increasingly diverted funds from civilian healthcare to defense needs, with regional HIV centers among the most affected.
“In Irkutsk and Kemerovo, clinics have lost up to half their operational funding as resources were rerouted to support conscription logistics and local military administrations,” the report states.
According to interviews with local doctors and health workers, newly mobilized conscripts known to be HIV-positive are frequently deployed without access to antiretroviral therapy (ART).
“Once drafted, soldiers are often removed from treatment registries entirely,” noted a Yekaterinburg-based outreach specialist who asked to remain anonymous.
Human rights groups have reported systematic failures to deliver HIV medication to frontline troops, while some stockpiles meant for civilian use have been redirected to military hospitals.
The result, according to the report, is a growing number of cases involving treatment interruption, viral resistance, and avoidable fatalities.
Independent NGOs that once helped maintain HIV testing and treatment continuity have been shuttered under Russia’s “foreign agents” law. International donors—previously responsible for covering a substantial share of HIV-related costs—suspended cooperation after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. “The domestic system was never designed to absorb this gap in funding,” the report warned.
“The state’s military priorities have cannibalized the health budget,” the report concludes. “HIV treatment is no longer seen as a matter of public health, but as an expendable line item in wartime.”
Earlier, Russia’s Defense Ministry proposed lowering health standards for military service — allowing recruits with syphilis, hypertension, and certain psychiatric disorders to serve.
Previously exempt conditions would now permit Category V assignment, meaning those individuals remain in the military despite these health issues.
