The press release of the Russian Service of Protection of Consumer Rights and Welfare says that tuberculosis claimed over 200 million lives since the 1990s and the figure keeps growing. In 2004, 102,887 active (pulmonary) tuberculosis patients were registered in the country, and the disease rate was 71.7 per 100,000 of population or 3% more than in 2003. The most 'infectious' region is Tuva, where the TB rate is 3 times as higher as on the average in the country. The Russian 'leader' in syphilis is Chukotka. Tuva is a runner-up.