World Bank loan to fight AIDS

The World Bank says it is negotiating a 150 million dollar loan with Russia to help fight HIV infection among its young people.

Russia has the world's fastest growing number of new carriers of HIV, according to the UN, but because of its chronic economic problems, the country has little money for nationwide health campaigns.

The World Bank director for Russia, Michael Carter, said the loan was only part of a greater effort needed on many fronts to fight HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS.

The bleakest predictions suggest that as many as one-million Russians could become carriers of HIV within two years, unless urgent action is taken. The biggest threat is to the growing number of intravenous drug users, who become infected by using contaminated needles.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service