Epidemic and Society: The History of HIV in the Late Soviet Union

This review examines I. Roldugina and K. Suverina’s monograph The Outbreak: The Unknown History of HIV in the USSR (2024), which is the first comprehensive study of the HIV epidemic in the late USSR. Drawing on extensive archival materials, the authors trace how Soviet authorities and society responded to the emergence of the virus: from the KGB’s disinformation campaign and the systemic healthcare crisis to the transformation of public perception and the rise of civic initiatives. The monograph makes a significant contribution to the social history of medicine by demonstrating how a public health crisis can catalyse important sociopolitical changes in an authoritarian context. Despite some structural limitations and restricted coverage of medical aspects, the work opens new perspectives for studying the relationship between epidemics and social transformations.