 Andrei Rylko Foundation for Health and Social Justice is a Russian non-governmental organization with a mission to promote and develop human drug policy based on tolerance, protection of health, dignity and human rights. We provide health services to drug users in Moscow and advocate for their rights. One of our main focuses today is promotion of accessibility of substitution treatment with methadone and buprenorphine, which is internationally recognized as a main approach to a number of drug-related issues, but is illegal in Russia. In February, the website of our organization has been shut down by the Registrator upon a written order of the Federal Drug Control Service, which stated that the website was promoting drugs. They later explained in a press statement that the reason to shut down the site was that it provided scientific information on substitution treatment. Just a short question. In February, the Federal Drug Control Agency decided to ban a website of an NGO called the Andrei Rylko Foundation, an NGO working in HIV prevention in Moscow. I would like to ask Mr Ivanov why the agency decided so, and do you plan to change this decision in face of international criticisms? A certain website was involved in the spread of methadone programs as a way of substitution treatment. But today, methadone, in accordance with the decision of the government, is a drug forbidden to use. Therefore, the website was largely engaged in spreading of substances that were classified as drugs in Russia. That is why the information was sent to the provider and the provider made a decision in accordance with the law and the website was shut down. In general, there is a discussion related to the spread of methadone therapy, which is not recognized by Russian specialists today. In a word, this position is divided into many countries, in particular, the United States, which does not cooperate with it. And with the leadership of Ukraine, we have discussed this problem in detail. This problem of drug addiction is not solved. Moreover, a significant increase in the mortality rate of people who go through this so-called therapy. As for the closure of websites that were involved in drug trade, this is practically all civilized countries. No, we didn't distribute or sell methadone from our website, of course. The problem is that technically even the scientific debate on substitution treatment is illegal as it can be considered as drug propaganda. I could have, of course, said that I'm outraged and shocked by the statement of Viktor Ivanov at the CND press conference, but the truth is that I'm not. It's kind of normal these days for a Russian high-ranking official to go out on public and just lie bluntly. Just look at our elections and you will understand. There is no accountability within the country for this official so they can say whatever pops up in their heads. We'll have to take this to the court and protect our professional dignity and the right to information in Russia. A Russian NGO, Andrei Ryelkov Foundation, whose website was banned by the Federal Drug Control Service. What do you think about this decision of the Russian authorities? We have been very concerned about that at UN AIDS and we have had discussions in UN AIDS on how best to support that particular organization because we understand that it's very public health orientated and we do support that foundation in ensuring that they're not persecuted or discriminated against. Closing down the website is a very regrettable action that we all should try to get together to fight against this action. Well, it's clearly a decision that goes against all principles of freedom of speech but it's born out of a Russian policy position very strongly held by them that they think that any proposals around the treatment of drug addiction, any proposals around harm reduction are a threat to their view of the drug problem and what to do about it. Of course, we think they are very seriously mistaken in the approach they've taken and they are overseeing a major HIV epidemic that could be avoided. I think civil society has debates with governments about what is the best way to go forward. We can even debate the science and how we interpret the science but I think Russians stand alone almost in lying and just stating facts that are not true. Mr. Ivanov, the Russian drugs are repeatedly told us that opiate substitution doesn't work according to the international experiences and evidences. How will you comment this statement? Well, the UNAID's UNODC WHO technical guide states very clearly that OST is one of the nine interventions which are known to be effective in reducing HIV transmission and it's also known to be effective in reducing demand for drugs and keeping drug users safe. And I think that's also now recently been even further highlighted in the Lancet series which then specifies the specific three interventions which if they were to be properly applied would reduce HIV transmission amongst injecting drug users by 50% in five years which is the commitment that all member states made last year at the high level meeting on HIV and AIDS. Hello, I'm Lana Dujava from Tribuna. I was wondering what is your personal take on methadone treatment? Methadone treatment is one of the possible treatments. I would not qualify methadone treatment as a miracle treatment. There are some other ways, some other prescriptions, medicines which can be used but it can be useful in some cases. My personal opinion is that there should be an issue which is to be decided by experts, by doctors, in consultations with patients and families but not through political debates and political declarations. Do you personally approve of it or not? If I cannot approve, I'm not a doctor but if a doctor believes that it could be useful, why not? Okay, thank you. That is an issue which cannot be decided through resolutions of the commission but rather through medical practices. He said that he does not support methadone because he thinks that the local doctors should decide to prescribe methadone or not so he has no position on methadone. What do you think about this? I think that Mr. Fedotov plays all these political games. The methadone is widely used in the United States and in other countries throughout the world. It's got a tremendous success record and to say that doctors can just prescribe this medication is ridiculous because in a country like Russia it's explicitly banned and the Russians are against it. His responsibility is as the head of the agency which is a co-sponsor of the UN AIDS program and there is no lack of clarity from UN AIDS. There is a very clear agreement from the medical community, from the United Nations and the General Assembly that the heads of the co-sponsors of UN AIDS have to work together to pursue the agreed UN AIDS strategy and in terms of drug users the agreed UN AIDS strategy is to scale up needle exchange, opiate substitution treatment and a range of other services to respond to epidemics. It's not unclear, it's fully proven by the evidence, it's fully approved by the General Assembly. Mr Fedotov is an executive of the UN system and he has a fundamental responsibility to pursue that mandate.