risk factors impacting on the spread of hiv among pregnant women ...

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GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
RISK FACTORS IMPACTING ON THE SPREAD OF HIV AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
1. The voluntary anonymous survey of the socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics of
HIV-positive pregnant women living in five high-prevalence regions of Russia (St Petersburg,
Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk, and Tver) has shown that the sample can be regarded both
as a high-<strong>risk</strong> (sexual partners of HIV-positive persons, IDUs, SWs, IDUs selling sexual services)
and as a low-<strong>risk</strong> but related to high-<strong>risk</strong> (IDUs’ sexual partners, persons engaged in multiple
sexual contacts with non-regular partners, sexual partners of prisoners) groups. It proves that the
HIV epidemic in these areas is still confined to <strong>risk</strong> groups and their immediate social environment
(concentrated epidemic stage).
2. The vulnerability of women to HIV varies geographically. In St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and
Kaliningrad, at the time of diagnosis the women practised high-<strong>risk</strong> behaviour. In Saint
Petersburg 50.3% women were IDUs, 21.9% were sex workers, 60.9% had sexual contacts with
IDUs, 83.4% had non-regular sexual partners, 29.1% had sexual contacts with partners of sex
workers, 43.0% with prisoners. In Yekaterinburg 27.5% women were IDUs, 57.5% had sexual
contacts with IDUs, 73.9% with non-regular partners, 36.8% with prisoners. In Kaliningrad
14.7% women were IDUs, 28.7% had sexual contacts with HIV-positive persons, 31.3% had sexual
contacts with IDUs, 68.0% with non-regular partners, 30.7% with clients of SWs, 43.3% with
prisoners. In Irkutsk and Tver many fewer women reported high-<strong>risk</strong> behaviour at the time of
diagnosis. In both cities only 15% reported injecting drugs, 2–3% had commercial sexual partners.
However, 25% women in Irkutsk and 61.8% in Tver were engaged in non-regular sexual
contacts. Some reported having had sexual contacts with IDUs, clients of SWs, HIV-positive
people and prisoners (known or suspected).
3. Despite being IDUs, the vast majority of women (74% – 83%) thought they had contracted HIV
sexually This allows to suggest that some of them could have assessed their HIV transmission route
as sexual when epidemiological history was being taken at the time of the HIV diagnosis. Some
correlation between subjective perceptions of transmission routes and behavioural <strong>risk</strong>s was
detected only among women in St Petersburg (every fourth woman thought she had been infected
through injecting drugs).
4. There is a link between reproductive behaviour and HIV <strong>risk</strong>. The proportion of planned pregnancies
is lower in St Petersburg (20.5%), and Kaliningrad (39.8%); these cities also have the
highest number of women who did not receive antenatal care (33.6% in Kaliningrad, 45.5% in St
Petersburg). In St Petersburg 49.2% of the HIV cases were diagnosed during delivery.
5. After diagnosis, some of the women shifted to less <strong>risk</strong>y behaviour. Thus, drug injection decreased
by 7 times in Yekaterinburg (from 27.5% to 3.9%), 3 times in Saint Petersburg (from 50.3% to
15.2%) and Tver (from 15.3% to 5.1%), 2 times in Irkutsk (from 15.0% to 6.8%) and Kaliningrad
(from 14.7% to 8.0%). The total number of sexual partners in all of the cities studied also dropped.
However, the data on condom use during sexual intercourse with various partners were contra-