Russia’s Ministry of Justice has added the Andrei Rylkov Foundation, a nonprofit organization involved in HIV and hepatitis prevention, to its “foreign-agents” registry. The foundation is the 134th nonprofit to be added to the list.
Russia’s Ministry of Justice has added the Andrei Rylkov Foundation, a nonprofit organization involved in HIV and hepatitis prevention, to its “foreign-agents” registry. The foundation is the 134th nonprofit to be added to the list.
Founded in 2009, the foundation takes a “harm-reduction” approach to working with drug addicts, aiming not to prohibit their harmful behavior, but to reduce its consequences (namely, the spread of diseases like HIV and hepatitis).
Andrei Rylkov, who worked to promote “harm-reduction” programs in Russia, died in 2006. His work is now carried on by the employees of the foundation, which offers various types of assistance to drug addiction, including treatment programs. The foundation also works to protect the rights of drug users and even distributes clean syringes in the streets.
Andrei Rylkov Foundation is the second nonprofit working on HIV prevention that has been added to the “foreign-agents” registry this week. The first group was Esvero.