WHO Newsletter on International Health
Programmes in Tajikistan
Compiled and circulated by the World
Health Organizationwith support from the European Communities Humanitarian
Office
HIV IN TAJIKISTAN - AN UNEXPLODED TIME-BOMB?
So far there are only a handful of confirmed cases of HIV/AIDS infection in Tajikistan. This number should probably be multiplied with a factor of 10 to give an estimate of the real figure. Still the figures are not in themselves worrying. But there is no room for complacency. For two obvious reasons:
- Tajikistan has an extremely high prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases. For instance: in a study of female garment workers in a Dushanbe factory in 1995, 66% of the workers had at least one sexually transmitted disease1 and in another study in Khatlon oblast were 400 consecutive women were examined, 75% had one or more sexually transmitted disease 2.
- Injectable substance abuse is increasing rapidly in the country. So far, no figures are available, but it seems to be an informed opinion that this is already a serious health problem.
Both these two factors indicate that the HIV- virus will find fertile soil in this country. For this reason, urgent action is needed. Diagnostics and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases must be improved, health education needs to aggressively pursued, in particular the message of safe sex and abolition of narcotics abuse.
1 Source: UNFPA: Tajikistan Country
Population Assessment, November 1998
2 Source: UNFPA/WHO/MoH, Tajikistan: Proceeding from National conference
on reproductive health, Oct. 14-15, 1998
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