The article considers the infrastructure capital relating to the regional economy as a tool for economic development and proposes the authors’ approach to its definition and classification. The indicators of the subjects of the Ural economic region in the period from 2005 to 2015, collected by Federal State Statistics Service of Russian Federation, serve as the initial data. The purposes of the study are to compare the calculated (the optimal in a model) and actual values of infrastructure capital in the structure of the region’s economy, which the authors divide into manufacturing and infrastructure sectors; and to assess its impact on the gross output of the manufacturing industries. The authors put forward the following hypothesis: the infrastructure input as a factor of production function has a positive and significant impact on the value of the gross output of the sector. The methodology of the study is represented by the econometric assessment of the elasticities of the outputs of sectors of the economy, described by Cobb-Douglas production functions, as well as by the theoretical calculation of the capital’s ratios in the region’s economy. The results confirm the importance of infrastructure input in the formation of the gross output of the Ural economic region. The comparison of the calculated and actual capital allocation ratios along with other indicators suggests the scarcity of capital in both sectors of the regional economy. This fact can be a signal to the regional authorities for rethinking the infrastructure development programs. The authors consider the case of the closed economy, therefore, further research should be concentrated on the open economy with a larger number of regions and other econometric tools.

The spread of HIV infection with the consequent death from AIDS removes some resources from the economy, impedes the preservation of human capital in the economy and undermines the foundations of economic development. The analysis of foreign and domestic research demonstrates the difficulty of assessing the impact of HIV infection on economic development. There is a variety of approaches and methods used for these assessments. Thus, the search for an optimal model to assess the impact of HIV infection on economic development becomes increasingly relevant. We have substantiated the calculation the economic burden of the disease caused by HIV infection. The proposed method for assessing socio-economic losses due to premature mortality from HIV infection includes three main types: the explicit economic costs from the premature mortality of the working-age population, the implicit costs from the premature mortality of the incapable population and the implicit economic costs from premature mortality of women of child-bearing age due to their inability to participate in the reproduction of the labour force. The magnitude of the region’s gross regional product (GRP) losses from fatal HIV infection increased 1.85 times between the years 2012 and 2016. As a result, of premature mortality from HIV infection, the Sverdlovsk oblast GRP decreased by 1.68 % in 2016, total losses were 16.2 billion roubles. In the structure of the total losses, about 70 % are implicit losses associated with the mortality of women of child-bearing age and therefore, the loss of the opportunity to increase the population of the region. The further direction of the research is to assess the socio-economic impact of investments in HIV treatment on the quality of life in the region.

Assessment of quality of life of patients with HIV infection is of great importance due to the unfavourable epidemic situation with this disease both in the Russian Federation in general and in the Sverdlovsk region. This chronic disease, accompanied by long-term therapy and medical supervision, has adverse effects on lives of people carrying HIV/AIDS. Additionally, it negatively impacts the functioning of all spheres of the society. In the autumn of 2018, we studied the population’s quality of life in the Sverdlovsk region using the methodology of the World Health Organization (the WHOQOL-26 questionnaire). This questionnaire considers quality of life as an integral characteristic of physical, psychological, emotional, and social functioning of a healthy or sick person based on subjective perception. We added specific questions in the questionnaire to assess how the quality of life of a person with a positive HIV status changes depending on whether the respondent receives antiretroviral therapy. The sample included patients visiting branches of the Sverdlovsk Regional Center for Prevention and Control of AIDS. The quality of life of the survey participants was assessed in four dimensions: physical health, psychological well-being, social connections and the environment. The majority of HIV patients assess their quality of life and health by means of averages. However, according to the “physical health” and “social well-being” measurements, the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS is lower than in the control group of healthy respondents. The study’s results demonstrate the importance of developing and implementing a program of professional and socio-economic rehabilitation for people who carry HIV/AIDS to maintain social functioning and optimal quality of life.