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Do we Treat or Harm: how Ukraine is Fighting against Tuberculosis

More than 30 thousand of Ukrainians are diagnosed with a not active tuberculosis and more than 10 thousand – with an active form. Every day 90 people get their status. These figures are underestimated: according to the World Health Organization (WHO), every fourth patient in the country stays undiagnosed. Back in 1995, WHO announced that Ukraine has exceeded the epidemic threshold – 50 cases per 100,000 people. Since then, the situation has only worsened – the conflict in the East of the country forced 1.5 million residents of Lugansk and Donetsk regions to resettle. In these regions, there were 15% of Ukrainians who were diagnosed with tuberculosis. Every fifth TB patient is HIV-positive.

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Post-Soviet Countries Need a Single Document on HIV in the Field of Migration

In the post-Soviet countries there is no single document that would regulate the issues of HIV prevention, diagnosis and treatment for migrants as well as their legal status. Migrant workers do not get the adequate services in the countries where they work which inevitably leads to the decline of their health status and to the growth of the HIV epidemic in the region. This message was the main one in the discussion at the sub-regional technical seminar in Astana, Kazakhstan on February 19-20, 2018. The event was organized by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in cooperation with the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

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Happy with HIV in Tajikistan

According to the Republican AIDS Center, the total number of HIV positive citizens in Tajikistan has reached 10 thousand people, one third of them are women. Since 2004, women with HIV have given birth to 1,000 children, 600 of these children have no HIV. Each year the Republican Network of Women Living with HIV helps at least 5-6 young HIV positive people to find their spouses.

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Shrinking Civil Society Space Hinders NGO Activities in EECA

NGOs play a crucial role in the development of effective HIV/AIDS responses. Non-governmental organisations meaningfully involve community key population groups for a better understanding of their needs. The experts are saying that the limited space that NGOs are allowed to maneuver in, is threatening the effectiveness of national and regional policies to contain and stop the growth of the HIV epidemic in the region. AFEW International’s experts Janine Wildschut and Magdalena Dabkowska conducted a mixed-methods research to explore the process of shrinking civil society space in the EECA countries, how this affects NGOs and how they are coping with it. With this research, AFEW has gained more insights and learned how NGOs are currently dealing with those challenges. The research is part of AFEW’s regional approach within Bridging the Gaps: health and rights of key populations project. 

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Bridging the Gaps in Clinical Guideline to Care in Pregnancy for Women Using Psychoactive Substances

The estimate number of people who use injected drugs (PWID) in Kyrgyzstan is about 25,000 people. Many of these people are women. Such is the data from the research that was conducted within the framework of the Global Fund’s grant in 2013. Within the framework of the project Bridging the Gaps: health and rights for key populations, AFEW-Kyrgyzstan decided to develop a clinical guideline to care in pregnancy for women who use drugs as there were no modern standards for working with women who use drugs in the country before.

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Spices – New Threat for the Tajik Youth

While several years ago Tajikistan was concerned with young people being into opiates and stronger synthetic drugs, today there are concerns about the new-generation drugs – so-called spices. The official reports of law enforcement agencies fail to contain any data on the seizure of spices. However, a quick survey among the young people showed that those smoking blends have long been popular in the country.

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HIV Risks Grow in Kazakhstan

In Kazakhstan, the key alarming trend of the recent years is the growing sexual transmission of HIV. Before, most people in Kazakhstan contracted HIV when sharing injecting equipment, but now most infections are transmitted through sexual contacts. As of today, there are about 29,000 of Kazakhstani and about 2,000 of foreign citizens living with HIV in Kazakhstan.

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Antonio Guterres Replied to AFEW Support Letter

83 organisations from the whole world signed the letter. We asked to reconsider the position of Prof M. Kazatchkine as UN Special Envoy for EECA, as he is in an excellent position to create a momentum to raise awareness on the disruptive situation the epidemics has caused in the region. Prof. Michel Kazatchkine played a crucial role in mobilizing local authorities, (inter)national civil society, donors, researchers and other relevant groups to come to better outcomes to the UNAIDS indicators as we see now. As a result, he enjoys great support from communities in the region.

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Georgia: Problems under the Tip of the Iceberg

As reported by the Infectious Diseases, AIDS and Clinical Immunology Research Centre, around 600 to 700 new HIV cases are registered in Georgia annually. Although every citizen is able to receive publicly-funded free treatment, this is insufficient to end HIV. NGO Real People, Real Vision is a member of East Europe and Central Asia Union of People Living with HIV (PLHIV), which has implemented interesting projects on prevention, support and mobilization of people involved in HIV treatment. Discrimination and stigmatisation of HIV-positive people is just one of the problems obstructing prevention of HIV epidemic in Georgia. This and other topics are part of our conversation with Lasha Tvaliashvili, the initiator of multiple video-experiments and the Executive Director of Organization of PLHIV Real People, Real Vision.

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In Kyrgyzstan, Fines for Drug-Related Offences will Grow 30-Fold

Kyrgyzstan has adopted new legislation on drug-related crimes. Amendments have been introduced into a number of national legal codes within the broad judiciary reform in the country. The amendments will come into force starting from 2019. Initiators of the reform declare the ideas of humanisation and decriminalisation, but the practitioners and the community expect an opposite outcome.

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