The epidemic has hit all of Russia's regions with the ten most developed and populated regions accounting for approximately 70 percent of all cases. In Russia, HIV/AIDS is a disease of the rich. The majority of infections occur among young people, who contract the disease as a result of injecting drug use. In the late 1990s many young people associated heroin use with prestige and glamour, but there was very little information available in Russia at that time about HIV and the ways in which it is transmitted.

Russia's rigid drug policy further aided the spread of the disease: methadone programs are forbidden in Russia, forcing those who want to kick their habit to quit cold-turkey -- not an appealing option to most. Also, severe penalties were often levied on those who were caught with syringes, which meant addicts were forced to exchange the few available needles among themselves. The wide availability of cheap raw opium (khanka), which must be diluted – often with human blood – to remove impurities, further contributed to the spread of the disease

The hospital, located in the heart of St. Petersburg, is the largest in the world dedicated to infectious diseases. The doctors here work with the most difficult and hard to reach of patients. Many come to them addicted to drugs, co-infected with tuberculosis and unaware that they are living with advanced HIV.