russia
HIV/AIDS in Russia
OMSK, SIBERIA, RUSSIA, 2003: Ovka prison colony for juvenille offenders, Omsk, Siberia. Many of the inmates are serving long sentences for petty crimes such as stealing food or fighting whilst homeless. There are 320 inmates between the ages of 14 and 18, serving sentences of between 3 and 10 years. There is no screening for addiction or help with withdrawal from drugs or alcohol. It is highly likely that some inmates will be HIV +ve. Pictured are Sash (L) and Victor (R). Sasha is serving 1 1/2 years for stealing when he was homeless and Victor 2 years for fighting.(Photo by David Gillanders)
russia
In the late 90’s I read an article in the Sunday Times about a city in Russia, Ekaterinburg, that had declared a zero tolerance stance on intravenous drug use. The approach seemed extreme – and the more I looked into it the more I became intrigued.
It also seemed that Russia had an almost underground problem with very fast rates of infection of HIV.
A few months later I got on a plane for the first of many trips to and from Russia and then Ukraine over the next decade or so.
Ultimately I ended up meeting and getting somewhat sucked into the lives of a group of homeless children in Ukraine – but looking through contact prints from yesteryear made me want to pull together an edit from my first couple of years work in Russia.