russia
HIV/AIDS in Russia
MOSCOW, RUSSIA2003: Sizo Pre detention prison for women in Moscow. This prison holds women on remand before their trials, and it is not uncommon for women to spend several years awaiting trial. The prison has a high percentage of HIV +ve inmates, and has a dedicated wing for them, and also their children. Women who are pregnant when held on remand often give birth in Sizo and they are allowed to keep their child with them for three years. After this time the if the inmate has not been to trial the child will be taken to a state orphanage. The prison has a capacity for approx 800 women and at the time of this visit there were 13 women with children under 3, and 56 inmates who were HIV +ve.Pictured is the wing for HIV +ve inmates. (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.