Condoms cause spread of HIV in Russia, says Kremlin-backed study Condoms have been blamed for the spread of HIV in Russia and the best method of protection against the virus is to be “in […]

Condoms have been blamed for the spread of HIV in Russia and the best method of protection against the virus is to be “in a heterosexual family,” a Kremlin-backed organisation has said.

The advice has come from a Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS) report which was discussed at the Moscow City Duma Commission on Public Health on Tuesday.

“The contraceptive industry is interested in selling their products and encouraging under-aged people to engage in sex,” said study co-author Igor Beloborodov, according to a translation of the Kommersant newspaper by The Moscow Times.

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Being “in a heterosexual family where both partners are loyal to each other,” was the best way to prevent HIV spreading, he said.

‘Information war’ against Russia

Tatyana Guzenkova, the deputy director of the RISS, said HIV and AIDS were being used in the information war against Russia.

She said the Western model for fighting HIV was insensitive “towards national sensitivities and over-focus of certain at-risk groups such as drug addicts and LGBT people”.

But the Russian model, she said, considered the “cultural, historical, and psychological characteristics of the Russian population”.

‘Conservative approach’ not working

The RISS report comes after Vadim Pokrovsky, head of Federal Center for Fighting AIDS in Moscow, spoke openly about the spread of HIV in Russia last year.

He said around 930,000 Russians had HIV, up from 500,000 in 2010.

“The last five years of the conservative approach have led to the doubling of the number of HIV-infected people,” Mr Pokrovsky told AFP.

At “Stop HIV/AIDS” prevention campaign including more than 200 universities in May 2016, Mr Pokrovsky stressed the importance of using condoms for HIV prevention. In 2015, he said, around 100,000 new cases of HIV in Russia were reported.