Moscow, Dec 1 (NationPress) The HIV infection rate in Russia has experienced a 27% decline over the past decade, largely due to a significant enhancement in testing efforts, local media reported on Sunday, referencing the country's health authorities.

"Over the last ten years, the Russian Federation has recorded a 27.1% reduction in HIV infection rates. The risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV has been nearly eradicated within the country," stated the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being, commonly known as Rospotrebnadzor.

"Owing to systematic measures, more than 99% of children born to HIV-positive mothers do not acquire the virus," Xinhua reported, citing the agency.

Rospotrebnadzor emphasized the expansion of HIV testing programs across the nation. In 2023, a total of 49 million blood samples were tested for HIV, marking a 74.8% increase since 2014. During the initial nine months of 2024, 38.5 million tests were conducted, reflecting a 6.8% increase compared to the same timeframe in 2023.