When Ambivalence Kills: The West and InternationalHIV Relief in Post-Socialist Russia

HIV/AIDS has reached epidemic proportions in the Russian Federation. Further, the acquired-immune disorder threatens multiple generations of people. In a country as technologically and economically developed as Russia, why is this infection flourishing? As a whole, this work attempts to answer this public health conundrum. In part, my research constitutes a small piece of an enormous wealth of scholarship regarding internal affects on HIV such as stigma, faulty drug laws, and the limits imposed on domestic NGOs by Russian tax laws. Additionally, I provide evidence suggesting that internationally-funded NGOs exacerbate existing conditions through their use of culturally ignorant funding practices and alienating messages which can render NGO facilities unattainable or undesirable for those individuals at risk or already infected. In this work, I argue that the ambivalence inherent in the relationship between the West and Russia constitutes the largest inhibitor to HIV/AIDS relief because it leads to the expulsion of NGOs from the country entirely, causes unnecessary military spending that could otherwise be devoted to healthcare expansion, and prevents the formation of an effective global governing body that has the resources to curb the epidemic.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Slavic and East European Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

The Ohio State University

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Cotrell, Brittany Marie

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hashamova, Yana

• East European Studies
• Health Care
• International Relations
• Public Health
• Russian History
• Slavic Studies

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: some rights reserved. It is licensed for use under a Creative Commons license. Specific terms and permissions are available from this document's record in the OhioLINK ETD Center.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366143332

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:osu1366143332