Experts warned Russia on Wednesday that in order to curb the rapid growth of HIV in the country, authorities much legalize Methadone. Currently, nearly one million Russians are infected with HIV and the number is fast growing.

The warning came at the AIDS conference in Moscow, which ran for 3 days, where experts confirmed that in the last 8 years, HIV cases in Russia had doubled. The majority affected population was of drug users, who frequently injected heroine in great volumes from the nearby Afghanistan, who accounted for as many as 80% of the total infected patients.

"Other regions of the world do have increasing epidemics, but all other regions have countries that are plateauing or even controlling their epidemic, even in parts of Africa. Sadly, this is not the case here", Robin Gorna, the executive director of the International Aids Society, said about the situation of HIV in Russia.

Russian authorities have been urged by experts to change their current stance on Methadone, a widely used, orally administered drug for helping opiate addiction. Russia is currently ranked as the world's top consumer of heroine from Afghanistan. Under such circumstances, it is crucial for the authorities to take certain steps to ensure that the rapid spreading of HIV through drug use in the country is curbed.