In Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation, most of the new infections are among injecting drug users, the report said, citing the effects of socio-economic turmoil that fuel increasing drug use and commercial sex. By the end of 1999 there were an estimated 130,000 people living with HIV in the country. That figure will rise to 300,000 by the end of this year.
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In many of these countries, the fight against the epidemic is being waged against a backdrop of socio-economic turmoil. The situation is particularly dramatic in the Russian Federation, where new infections are higher this year than in all previous years of the epidemic combined. By the end of 1999 there were an estimated 130,000 people living with HIV in the country. That figure will rise to 300,000 by the end of this year. Russia's first HIV epidemic among injecting drug users was noticed in 1996 in the port city of Kaliningrad.