Russia: World Bank Helps Tackle Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2003—The World Bank yesterday approved a US$150 million loan to the Russian Federation for the Tuberculosis (TB) and AIDS Control Project, which will help Russia protect its population and economy from uncontrolled epidemics of TB, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. It will support the Government’s Federal Program on “Prevention and Control of Social Diseases, 2002-2006.” 

“The rapidly growing number of people infected with TB and HIV pose daunting challenges to the country's social and economic development. This project is a sign of the Government's commitment to starting a more vigorous attack on these diseases,” says Julian Schweitzer, World Bank Country Director for Russia.

This first-ever countrywide TB and HIV/AIDS project in Russia comes at a crucial juncture, since the country is experiencing one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV/AIDS epidemics that threatens the health of its citizens and the economy.[1]   In addition, Russia is one of the 22 high-burden countries for TB in the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). [2]  Cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis are increasing as a result of   poorly treated cases of ordinary, drug-sensitive TB.  They are difficult and expensive to treat.    Due to the potential for their spread within and beyond Russia, the situation has been described as a time bomb, or “Ebola with Wings.” [3] 

Tackling these problems effectively requires approaches that often are not the same as established practices in Russia.   As a result, reaching an agreement was more complex than in many other countries. The project concept and design stress the local development of Russian strategies and standards, not pre-packaged protocols, with the understanding that those Russian strategies and standards would be consistent with current scientific evidence and WHO guidelines.

Olusoji Adeyi, Lead Health Specialist and Team Leader for the project, says that “The project marks a strategic shift in Russia’s approaches to TB and AIDS control on a large scale.  Country ownership and technical rigor are crucial elements of this pathbreaking project.”

The project has three main components:

·       Tuberculosis Control:   The project will support the implementation of new policies, strategies and protocols that were developed by Russian officials in agreement with World Health Organization (WHO) and the Bank. It will improve surveillance, monitoring, quality control and quality assurance, strengthen case detection and improve case management.  

·       HIV/AIDS Control: The project will improve policies and strategies, support public information campaigns, strengthen surveillance and monitoring, improve laboratory service to ensure that the use of antiretroviral drugs can be properly monitored, enhance blood safety and support the earliest stages of work on HIV vaccines in Russia.  Crucially, the project will deliver preventive interventions to those at high risk of being infected, taking into account findings from serological and behavioral surveillance (studies of patterns of infection and behaviors related to the spread of HIV).

·        The Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation component will support the operation of the project implementation unit, monitoring and evaluation, training for staff of the implementation unit and project audits.

The project has a total cost of $286.18 million, of which IBRD will finance $150 million, $134.11 million will be counterpart financing provided by the Russian Federation and   $2.07 million will be parallel financing provided by the WHO.

The terms of the loan include a 5-year grace period and 17 years to maturity.

The Russian Federation joined the World Bank in 1992. Since then, commitments to the country total up to US$13 billion for 55 operations.

For more information on the World Bank's work in Russia, please visit:
http://www.worldbank.org.ru

For more on HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia, please visit:
HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia