Millions of views in Russia for HIV video

Audio 02:58

By: Daniel Vallot

This is unheard of in a country where AIDS is still a taboo subject. With 14 million views in a little less than ten days, the video posted by the Youtubeur Iouri Doud raises awareness ... and shakes up a political world long silent on the subject.

Publicity

from our correspondent in Moscow,

The author of the video is not for the first time. Real star of the Net in Russia, Iouri Doud has already made a lot of noise by posting videos on the gulag, or on the Beslan tragedy . This time, the 33-year-old youtubeur seizes a subject often obscured in Russia by the media as by the authorities. " Many people think that HIV belongs to the 90s and never reached the era of high speed internet, explains Iouri Doud in the introduction to his film, but it is false: more than one million people are living with HIV in Russia. In 2018, 37,000 people died of AIDS in our country, an average of 100 people per day. "

The video, which lasts more than an hour and a half, is intended to be educational, pedagogical ... It links the testimonies of patients, and the words of experts or activists. The youtuber does not just do educational work, he also denounces the inertia of the Russian authorities, accused of not doing enough to fight against the disease.

Huge impact

The impact is immense in a country where AIDS is a little known disease and where people living with HIV suffer from misunderstanding, prejudice, and sometimes even discrimination. During the video, Youri Doud does an HIV test himself and recommends that everyone do the same. According to the Russian press, attendance at analytical laboratories exploded in the days following the documentary's broadcast. As well as sales of saliva tests in pharmacies or on the internet.

The video also had an impact on the Russian authorities: Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said it deserved " interest " and the film was screened in the Russian Parliament. Reactions that are all the more unusual for the authorities since they have long been in denial of AIDS. Comment from the newspaper Vedomosti : the youtubeur Iouri Doud is by himself " more effective " in the face of the disease than the Russian state has been in recent years.

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• Russia
• Health and Medicine
• AIDS

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