Human rights group accuses Russian government of hampering efforts to tackle HIV/AIDS

The Russian government has been accused of exacerbating the country's deepening HIV/AIDS crisis by denying basic prevention services to those most at risk and by systematically discriminating against anyone who is infected.

In its report, Human Rights Watch (a New York based non-governmental organisation) claims that the Russian government's policy is actually fuelling the epidemic rather than helping to keep a lid on it.

Human Rights Watch says that the government's behaviour is extremely irresponsible, considering the scale of the problem.

Russian government figures (considered to be conservative) show that up to 1.2 million people in Russia …