December 1 is World AIDS Day

26  11.2025 The theme for World AIDS Day 2025 is “Overcoming challenges, transforming the AIDS response.”

HIV/AIDS is a major medical and social problem. New cases of HIV infection continue to be registered annually worldwide, indicating the continued growth of the epidemic.

Currently, there is no cure for the disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus. However, the availability of modern preventive and diagnostic tools, as well as antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of HIV/AIDS and indicator (opportunistic) diseases, and the availability of clinical monitoring and care for people living with HIV (PLHIV), have made it possible to transform HIV infection into a chronic, manageable disease.

UNAIDS estimates that 1.3 million (range 1.0–1.7 million) people will be newly infected with HIV worldwide in 2024. The number of deaths from AIDS-related causes is estimated at 630,000 (range 490,000–820,000).

Thus, the HIV epidemic continues to evolve. Improving the effectiveness of the epidemic response requires more active implementation of systemic measures, including preventing new HIV infections, increasing treatment coverage for people living with HIV, including monitoring chemoprophylaxis of perinatal transmission, ensuring adequate coverage of the population with effective HIV screening, and implementing genomic surveillance to assess the prevalence of HIV drug resistance and the landscape of circulating viral subtypes.

Specialists at the Volga District Center for AIDS Prevention and Control (the Center) are conducting genotyping of the human immunodeficiency virus. The results obtained allow physicians to select alternative medications for prescribing effective treatment regimens, which will help maintain the health, productivity, and quality of life of HIV-positive individuals and slow the spread of infection.

Specialists at the Center also conduct HIV prevention activities with teachers at educational institutions and young people.

Raising public awareness of HIV infection, implementing preventive measures, including early diagnosis and timely treatment of infected individuals, is one of the most important factors in combating the spread of the epidemic.

You can ask a specialist about the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of HIV infection by calling 469-79-08 from November 25 to December 5, 2025, on weekdays from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Rospotrebnadzor's Unified Consultation Center is open 24/7 at the federal level: 8 800 555 49 43. Calls to this number are toll-free.