Statements and Webcast
Kyrgyzstan
H. E. Mr. Sabyrbek Djumabekov, Minister of Health
9 June 2011
- Statement: Russian (Check against delivery)
Statement Summary
SABYRBEK DJUMABEKOV, Minister for Health of Kyrgyzstan, said that stopping the spread of HIV was one of the highest priorities of his Government. The Government had a central coordinating committee to combat HIV/AIDS, which acted in accordance with national and international laws. Kyrgyzstan received aid from the international community and, with financial support from the Global Fund, had increased the amount of testing and number of detections of HIV cases. Despite that effort, the rate that the disease was spreading remained fairly high in the country. The morbidity rate from 2001 to 2010 had risen, with the annual growth of cases reaching approximately 30 per cent. Drug users and sex workers were a significant part of those infected.
Kyrgyzstan was promoting progressive measures to prevent HIV/AIDS among drug users and jail inmates, including through methadone substitution and needle exchange, leading to a drop in infections, he said. There had been a substantive rise in the use of antiretroviral therapy by drug users. Now, there were 48 centres for needle exchange and 40 centres for methadone therapy, including within the prison system. HIV continued to affect the most active age groups, as 78 per cent of those affected were between the ages of 20 and 39. It was also necessary to note the feminization of the infection, as the percentage of women infected from 2001 to 2010 had grown from 9 to 30 per cent. Ninety-three per cent of all pregnant women in Kyrgyzstan were tested for HIV. A great deal had been achieved, and Kyrgyzstan, a small country still in the process of formation, was convinced that new political will, the full commitment of the leadership and the dedication of Member States and civil society could put an end to HIV and AIDS.
Source: GA/11090