In 2017, the Russian Federation (RF) is estimated to have the largest number of HIV-1 infected citizens of any country in Europe. Cumulative reported diagnoses reached over 1.16 million infections by mid-2017, and actual infections, including those that remain undiagnosed and/or unreported, are doubtless substantially higher. In contrast to the global epidemic pattern, the HIV epidemic in the RF and in most countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia continues to expand significantly.

In 1996, the global HIV community gathered in Vancouver, Canada, for the XI International AIDS Conference and shared the clear evidence that triplecombination antiretroviral treatment held the power to stem the tide of deaths from AIDS. The HIV treatment era had begun. As we gathered again in Vancouver in July, 2015, it was clear that a new transformative moment is upon us.

Many observers were surprised when Indiana Governor Mike Pence issued an executive order on March 26, 2015, declaring a public health emergency after a rapidly escalating outbreak of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was identified in Scott County, a rural region on the Kentucky border. Others, however, had seen it coming. (Perspective)