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The general global trend of reducing grant support and the rise of Kyrgyzstan in the qualification of the World Bank from the level of countries with low income to the level of countries with lower middle income encourages the transition of the country to national funding. It is a difficult process for the state, because from the very beginning the prevention programmes in the country (about 15 years) were funded by international donors.

Approximately five thousand citizens of Tajikistan, which were found to be infected with HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis during their stay in the territory of the Russian Federation, were declared personae non gratae for lifetime by the government of Russia in June this year. How could this expulsion of infected fellow citizens affect the Republic of Tajikistan?

During the regional seminar-meeting held on 6-7 June in Almaty, Central Asian nongovernmental organizations established a network of partner organizations to address issues of labour migration and tuberculosis. The participants accepted draft Memorandum of cooperation between non-profit organizations to reduce the prevalence and incidence of tuberculosis among migrant workers in the countries of the region.

Last year a major event in the field of HIV in Russia became the adoption of the National strategies of counteraction with the spread of HIV-infection in the Russian Federation until 2020. One of the key objectives of the Strategy was the consolidation of efforts of governmental and nonprofit organizations in their fight against the epidemic. Today we discuss the implementation of this interaction in the most progressive city of Russia with the Deputy chief physician of St. Petersburg Center for prevention and control of AIDS and infectious diseases, holder of Doctoral degree in Medicine, third-generation doctor Tatiana Vinogradova.

Psychologists, social workers, medical personnel and other employees of four social bureaus in Ukraine gathered for the three-day training Conducting Voluntary Counselling and Testing on HIV with Rapid Tests that AFEW-Ukraine conducted on June 7-9. The training was held within the framework of the project ‘Bridging the Gaps: Health and Rights for Key Populations’ with the financial support of Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Harm Reduction International’s data shows that since 2014, no new countries have established needle and syringe programmes (NSP) and just three have introduced opioid substitution therapy (OST). Of 158 countries where injecting drug use is reported, over half (78) do not offer OST and more than a third (68) still do not provide NSP. In 2015, a UN target to halve HIV transmission among people who inject drugs by 2015 was missed by more than 80%.

Now more than ever, key at-risk populations need increased access to health services to combat the three epidemics of HIV, TB and viral hepatitis, something that was highlighted last year in the new World Health Organisation global health sector strategies on HIV and on viral hepatitis.