The Saint-Petersburg summit of Group of Eight: the problems of infectious diseases and the ways of their solution

In 2006, being the presiding country at the Group of Eight Summit for the first time, Russia proposed the issue of counteraction with infectious diseases as one of the priority issues. In addition to the realization of the priority National Health Project, which is to a large degree dedicated to the immunoprophylaxis of infectious diseases as well as the prevention and treatment of HIV-infection/AIDS and hepatites B and C, a meeting of the Presidium of Russian Federation State Council presided by President V. V. Putin, dedicated to the problem of HIV-infection epidemic spread, was held on April 21; the meeting resulted in the formation of Governmental Commission on the problems of HIV-infection/AIDS. On July 16, the leaders of Group of Eight during their meeting in Saint-Petersburg, discussed and validated the Declaration on counteraction with infectious diseases, reflecting the position of the leaders on the entire complex of problems connected with the spread of infectious diseases, and determining the main principles of the global strategy of counteraction with epidemics under the threats associated with the appearance of new infections, such as avian influenza, HIV-infection/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. While preparing for the Summit, Russia made a range of suggestion aimed mostly on the reinforcement of possibilities to control infectious diseases in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Practically all Russia's initiatives were supported by the partners, which was also reflected in the conclusive document of the Summit. Following Russian initiatives, Group of Eight intends to increase the effectiveness of international affords on the prevention and elimination of the consequences of natural disasters, including the use of fast response teams. To provide Russia's contribution to this initiative, modernized specialized antiepidemic teams will be used. Taking into consideration the present-day financial participation of Russian Federation in the realization of international programs on counteraction with infectious diseases, Russia is gradually leaving the status of a recipient country and becomes a donor of international financial aid.