It’s called HIV In Russia, The Epidemic No One’s Talking About – and it’s gotten people talking.

The sobering, nearly two-hour video by the popular video blogger Yury Dud, is credited with sparking an uptick in concern in Russia: from a rise in the number of Russians being tested for HIV since the video was uploaded to a surge in HIV-related Internet searches.

That’s in a country where more than 1 million people are infected with the virus that can cause AIDS, and where health experts and government critics accuse the authorities of downplaying the problem.

Dud, a 33-year-old sports website editor in his other job, has amassed a following of more than 6.9 million subscribers since his YouTube channel, vDud, launched in February 2017. It offers cutting-edge interviews with Russian pop stars and other cultural figures to hard-hitting documentaries, such as one about the deadly 2004 school siege in the southern town of Beslan.

Interest in Dud’s latest work has spilled out beyond the usual audience and into the halls of power.

A deputy head of the State Duma health committee said he was so impressed with Dud’s work that he organized a screening of the video in the lower house of parliament. That few members showed up, and some left early, underscored what experts and activists say is the lack of urgency and importance the government places on solving the country’s AIDS epidemic. Read more via RF/ERL