Putin's Dirty Little Secret: HIV/AIDS in the Russian Federation

The number of people infected with HIV/AIDS in Russia is shocking. While the governments of many countries, including those of South Africa and India, have managed to get their HIV/AIDS epidemics under control, Russia’s continues to be one of the world’s only HIV/AIDS epidemics that is still growing. Despite this fact, Putin and his administration have done surprisingly little to combat the spread of the disease. HIV/AIDS is a highly stigmatized disease in Russia, making it particularly difficult to contain: it is associated with homosexuality, drug use, prostitution, and crime. Although many consider stigma to be an unfortunate but unavoidable byproduct of culture, this paper will argue that the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS, particularly the stigma that associates HIV/AIDS with homosexuality, serves a political purpose to Putin, as it allows him to garner domestic popularity by protecting his citizens from the diseased and dangerous homosexual community as well as distract them from the more pressing political, social, and economic problems that currently face Russia. The consequences of Putin’s refusal to solve the HIV/AIDS crisis in Russia are far-reaching, as the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Russia is currently fueling a tuberculosis epidemic