Routledge The Politics of HIV/AIDS in Russia (BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies)

Product Description This book studies the role of civil society organisations in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Russia. It looks at how Russia’s HIV/AIDS epidemic has developed into a serious social, economic and political problem, and how according to the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Russia is currently facing the biggest HIV/AIDS epidemic in all of Europe with an estimated number of 980,000 people living with HIV in 2009. The book investigates civil society organisations’ contribution to social change and civil society development in post-Soviet Russia, and thus situates a specific type of civil society actors into a broader socio-political context and questions their ability to represent civic interests, particularly in the field of social policy-making and health. This allows for a better understanding of the dynamics of state-society relations in present-day Russia, and gives insight into the ways HIV/AIDS NGOs in Russia have used transnational ties in order to exert influence on domestic policy-making in the field of HIV/AIDS. Review "This book is an immense contribution to the public health literature that provides readers with a complex picture of the HIV crisis in Russia. It also calls for our greater admiration of HIV/AIDS NGOs that have key roles in confronting HIV/AIDS in Russia and whose dedication and care are at the very heart of slowly emerging civil society in Russia." - Yuri A Amirkhanian, The Lancet About the Author Ulla Pape is a Lecturer in the Department of Integrated European Studies at the University of Bremen, Germany.