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MOSCOW (AP) — Police in Moscow have briefly detained eight activists who picketed outside the presidential administration's headquarters to protest the high cost of HIV treatments in Russia.
Andrei Skvortsov is the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition representative for Russia. He says protesters wore grim reaper costumes and carried signs with the names of the country's four top HIV drug distributors. The activists were released but will later face court hearings.
Skvortsov says distributors have pushed up prices for HIV drugs supplied to government treatment centers, creating a shortage. As Russia's economy declines, it is tightening health care expenditures.
Russia's Health Ministry said in December there are more than 700,000 people living with HIV in Russia.
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