HIV/AIDS treatment in Belarus costs $2,000.

May 17, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. Huge funds are allocated annually for the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients in Belarus, said Deputy Minister of Health - Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Belarus Valentina Kachan at a press conference today dedicated to the completion of the republican motor rally "Say NO to AIDS!", a BELTA correspondent reports. According to preliminary estimates, the treatment of one person costs almost $2,000, and this is only if we talk about the purchase of necessary medicines. If the patient requires hospitalization, this amount increases to $10,000, the deputy minister clarified. Annually, about a thousand people in Belarus are infected with the deadly virus. To date, the total number of infected people is over 10,000. Moreover, if previously the main route of HIV transmission was infection through intravenous drug use, then currently 75% of people are infected through unprotected sexual contact, and in certain regions of Belarus, the proportion of sexual transmission reaches almost 90%. The most vulnerable part of the population remains young people. Their share in the age structure is 65%. However, an increase in the proportion of morbidity in older age is also a cause for concern, Valentina Kachan added. -0-