Number of HIV cases increased in Komi Republic
The Republic of Komi is the only region in Barents Russia where the number of HIV infections continues to increase. Last year, the region registered 38.6 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
In 2014, there were 38.6 HIV infected for every 100,000 inhabitants in the Republic of Komi. As a comparison, the previous year their number totaled 23.8. This is the second leap since 2011, when number of new cases in the region increased twice - from 12.3 to 23.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (see visualizations below).
It is worth noting that Komi is the only region in Barents Russia where the HIV infection rate continues to grow. In Murmansk Oblast, on the other hand, the number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants has decreased from 47.4 (2013) to 46.8 in 2014, despite the fact that the oblast has the highest HIV rate in both Northern Russia and the Barents Region. In Arkhangelsk Oblast, the infection rate has decreased from 10.5 to 9.9, in the Nenets AO - from 14 to 11.6, in the Republic of Karelia - from 25.1 to 24.6.
Overall, in the five Northwestern Russian oblasts there were registered 973 new HIV cases in 2014.
In the Nordic countries, the virus is also diminishing. For example, the HIV infection rate has declined in the Norwegian counties Troms and Nordland, as well as the Finnish provinces Kainuu and Northern Ostrobothnia, show statistics of Patchwork Barents. At the same time, in Finnmark, the number of HIV infected per 100,000 inhabitants has increased from 1.3 to 5.3. In Lapland, this figure totaled 1.1 in 2014, while the year before there were no HIV infections at all.
Moreover, in most parts of the Barents Region, the tuberculosis (TBC) prevalence rate also decreased last year. The most significant change was observed in Finnmark, where the number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants decreased from 12.08 in 2013 to 5.3 in 2014. Herewith, it is worth noting that the 2013 figures became the highest of the last decade. In 2003, the TBC rate in the county also totaled 12.24 per 100,000 inhabitants, but after 2003 it sharply declined and, over the next ten years, the prevalence rate in Finnmark did not exceed 8.2.
In 2014, the TBC prevalence rate dropped significantly also in Komi Republic - from 68.7 to 59.7 per 100,000 inhabitants. This is the lowest figure since 2005.
Meanwhile, in the four sub regions of the Barents Region - Murmansk Oblast, Nenets AO, Republic of Karelia and the Finnish province Kainuu - the number of infected people has grown. The most dramatic increase in 2014 was observed in the Nenets AO, where 92.7 new cases of TBC were registered per 100,000 inhabitants (in 2013 - 84.13 cases). This is the highest rate in the region since the 1990s.
Overall, in the countries of the Barents Region (except from Sweden) there were registered 992 new cases of HIV and 1,649 of TBC in 2014.
This story is published in cooperation with Patchwork Barents.
