UN AIDS conference in Russia begins

A United Nations Conference on AIDS in Russia has opened in Moscow.

The meeting coincides with updated statistics showing that Russia has the highest rate of new HIV infections, the virus that can lead to AIDS.

A BBC regional analyst says conference organisers need to agree a strategy for dealing with an epidemic of intravenous drug abuse by young Russians which accounts for more than four in five cases of HIV infection.

Russia's chronic economic problems mean that the government has little money for nationwide health campaigns in what's already one of the worlds most unhealthy countries.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service