In Irkutsk, educational events for schoolchildren, students and young people are held for World AIDS Day, and specialists remind people of the importance of HIV prevention. In 10 months of 2012, 2721 new HIV cases were detected in the region, while in Irkutsk itself incidence fell compared with last year. The report also explains how HIV is treated today and which city programs help promote a healthy lifestyle and prevent the spread of infection.

Every year on December 1, World AIDS Day is observed. During the campaign period, various events will be held with the participation of doctors for senior students of general education schools, vocational colleges, and university students. On November 30, such events were held at the Aviation Technical College and at the KDC “Khudozhestvenny.”
As Yuri Lysanov said, in the Irkutsk Region, 2,721 new cases of HIV infection were identified in the first 10 months of 2012, which is 9.9% more than in the previous year. In Irkutsk, the rate of newly identified individuals with a positive HIV test result for the first 10 months of this year amounted to 119 people per 100,000 population. Compared with the same period last year, a decrease of 4.3% was noted. It should be noted that the incidence rate in the regional center this year is lower than in many cities and territories of the Irkutsk Region.
In Irkutsk, isolated cases of infection are recorded among adolescents and young people under 20 years of age (in 2012 — only 2). The incidence among young people under 25 has significantly decreased. At the same time, the number of Irkutsk residents being tested for HIV infection remains at the same level. In more than 2/3 of newly identified HIV cases, the sexual route of transmission of the virus was presumably established; 21% of cases were registered through household injections of narcotic drugs, and 0.7% of cases were vertical transmission (infection of a child from an HIV-positive mother). Among the newly identified HIV-positive individuals in 2012, more than 58% were men.
“At present, an HIV diagnosis is not a death sentence,” Yuri Lysanov noted. “Modern medicine and available medications make it possible to improve the quality of life of HIV-positive people, enable them to adapt socially more successfully, start families, and give birth to healthy children. At present, free antiretroviral therapy based on clinical indications is available to all HIV-positive people.”
In Irkutsk, the comprehensive municipal target program “Prevention of Drug Addiction, HIV Infection, and Socially Negative Phenomena in the Child and Youth Environment in the Territory of the City of Irkutsk” for 2009-2012 is in effect. This program carries out tasks of a sanitary and educational nature, the formation among the population, above all young people, of a healthy lifestyle and rejection of drugs, HIV prevention, and the organization of leisure and employment. Every year, events are held to introduce the younger generation and young people to a healthy lifestyle, organize their employment and leisure, and provide assistance to public organizations working with certain groups of adolescents and young people. In cooperation with various non-profit public organizations, about 20 programs and projects for the prevention of drug addiction and HIV infection are being implemented in Irkutsk.
Based on materials from the press service of the Irkutsk city administration