MOSCOW, April 24 (RIA Novosti) - The Global Quilt, made by AIDS victims' bereaved friends and relations, is on its maiden exposition in Moscow. The show aims to "offer millions of Russians essential information on HIV, help them cast off mental stereotypes, and cleanse them of prejudice against HIV carriers," say exposition organizers.
The giant quilt has twenty sections, four to four meters each. Four of the sections are dedicated to Russians whose life AIDS took.
The show is closing Tuesday next, April 26.
Alarming facts and figures were announced on a previous occasion. 305,732 HIV carriers were registered in Russia, as of January 1-close on 13,000 of these below 14 years of age. The number of HIV-infected mothers is growing year in, year out. There were roughly 3,500 registered last year, and more than 5,000 are forecast for this year, says Gennadi Onischenko, in charge of the Federal Inspection for Consumer Rights and Human Welfare.
Men and women below 30 years of age make more than 80 per cent of all registered HIV carriers.
