 Although the epidemic, which started in 1999, is reported to have slowed down, Irkutsk will lose tens of thousands of its working age population from 2010 onwards.This is one of the reasons Irkutsk's male life expectancy, at 53 years, is one of the lowest in all of Russia.Preventive measures are in place to prevent the spread of the epidemic to the generation which was born after the breakup of the USSR.