- Kazakhstan has more cases of HIV/AIDS than in its four neighboring countries.
- Registered cases have almost doubled each year since 2000.The first case was reported in 1987. By mid-2003 the number of registered cases had grown to over 3,600. Sentinel surveillance conducted in 2003 has shown prevalence levels of 3.8% in injecting drug users and 4.6% in sex workers but there are no data concerning men who have sex with men.
- All oblasts now have confirmed HIV+ cases. The worst affected regions are Karaganda, Pavlodar and Kostanay, and Almaty city.
- Young people, especially young men,have been disproportionately affected. Over half the infected people are between 20-29 years, almost 90% are between 15-39 years, and almost 80% are men.
- The most common mode of transmission is infected syringes and needles while injecting drugs.
- The potential for continued rapid spread among injecting drug users is acute.There are 43 thousand registered drug users although the true number is probably five times greater.
- The virus is concentrated among unemployed youth and prisoners. Almost 75% of affected persons were unemployed at time of infection. The disease is also increasing rapidly among prisoners.
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Government Response
The Government has recently accelerated its actions against HIV.
The National Program for 2001-2005 was approved in 2001.The program has three primary objectives: - to prevent the virus from spreading into the general population from high-risk groups,
- to reduce the growth of the HIV-vulnerable groups,especially the youth,
- to ensure that at least 80% of HIV-infected persons are covered with medical and social programs to reduce their contagiousness.
Government Strategies
To meet these objectives, the following main strategies of response against HIV were developed:
- Improving the legal base in connection with the HIV/AIDS issue. This includes strengthening measures to ensure the constitutionally-guaranteed rights and freedoms of citizens, including those who engage in risky behaviors and HIV-infected persons;
- Improving national policy and practice to support relations between the Government, civil society, and groups which engage in risky behavior;
- Developing and implementing educational programs and establishing an information environment which promotes an understanding of the HIV/AIDS issue and the hazards of risky behavior;
- Improving the performance of health services, ensuring quality control of medical and hygienic goods, and monitoring and evaluation of the situation with respect to the HIV/AIDS epidemic;
- Strengthening the management, coordination and performance of preventive programs on HIV/AIDS.
Obstacles
The obstacles that have been identified by the Government, include: - The prevalence of concurrent epidemics of injecting drug use and sexually transmitted infections,
- Not enough tolerance for activities of vulnerable segments of the population,
- Slow progress in changing the focus from clinical treatment, toward promotion of healthy lifestyles and prevention activities,
- Insufficient resources.
 For further details see Report on HIV/AIDS in Central Asia (194 KB, pdf) |
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