NEW YORK — Russia has one of the world's most serious epidemics of injection drug use, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS. It is estimated that Russia has 2 million injecting drug users (IDUs), 60 to 70 percent of whom have HIV-related illnesses. In the past decade, the number of HIV-infected people has increased from an estimated 100,000 to more than 1 million.

Sharing syringes by injecting drug users is the most prevalent cause of HIV transmission in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, where it is responsible for more than 80 percent of all HIV infections.

Russian authorities have come under widespread criticism for their policies in dealing with the IDU/HIV epidemic. Education to control drug abuse has focused primarily on the promotion of drug abstinence. In addition, officials have relied on criminalization as the main deterrent. That approach has created obstacles to effective addiction treatment and HIV prevention.