News

Kyrgyzstan is a leading country in the Central Asia in terms of implementation of harm reduction and HIV prevention programs in the correctional settings. Syringe exchange programs have been available in prisons since 2002, and today over one thousand five hundred people receive clean injecting equipment in all twelve correctional facilities. Atlantis rehab centers have been gradually introduced since 2004 for those convicts who made a decision to quit drugs. Currently, eight such centers are functioning, with the ones who have almost succeeded in stopping with drugs continuing treatment in a separate, so-called “clean compound.”

We, at AFEW network, are shocked by the sad news that our colleague Yury Sarankov passed away. Yury worked in AFEW from the very beginning. Starting in Russia, when AFEW was not yet founded and activities were implemented under the flag of Medecins sans Frontiers, he specialized in developing and implementing harm reduction activities. We have lost a strong advocate for HIV prevention, the rights of key populations affected by HIV, and also a very nice man and a very dear colleague. Our condolences go to his family, friends, and colleagues.

Sex workers over the age of 30 desperately need employment; women living with HIV have a need for women’s dormitories – these are the preliminary conclusions of two different studies conducted in Kyrgyzstan. The complete results of the needs’ assessment and HIV prevention programs in the country will be presented at the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018). The research is conducted by these communities for the first time. AFEW International provided this opportunity for key populations in Kyrgyzstan and other countries of East Europe and Central Asia (EECA) within the Small Grants Program.

AFEW International, together with its network members from Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) is getting ready for AFEW’s Regional autumn school to be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan from October 30 till November 3, 2017. The autumn school will provide the platform for learning, exchange, strategizing and planning for community members and NGO partners from 10 different countries. The regional autumn school is an annual event that takes place as a part of ‘Bridging the Gaps: Health and Rights for Key Populations’ regional approach of AFEW.

In 2005, more than 300 inmates had tuberculosis in Tajikistan, this year – only 100. The rate of new infections has also been declining: 77 cases in 2016, 59 over the last eight months. Last year, seven prisoners died from mycobacterium tuberculosis, this year we had zero deaths from TB. Almost all correctional institutions have special TB hospitals for 5–10 beds, as in prison settings one TB carrier could infect tens of people within a year.

Council of Europe Co-operation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs published a new publication “Drug Treatment Systems in Prisons in Eastern and Southeastern Europe”. The publication sheds light into the situation of drug users among criminal justice populations and corresponding health care responses in ten countries in Eastern and Southeastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine. AFEW’s board member Vladimir Mendelevich is one of the contributors of the publication.