Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Nov;132 Suppl 1(0 1):S61-4.
doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.07.007. Epub 2013 Jul 31.

Access to HIV counseling and testing among people who inject drugs in Central Asia: strategies for improving access and linkages to treatment and care

Assel Terlikbayeva  1 , Baurzhan Zhussupov, Sholpan Primbetova, Louisa Gilbert, Nurmat Atabekov, Gusal Giyasova, Murodali Ruziev, Alijon Soliev, Daniiar Saliev, Nabila El-Bassel
Affiliations

Access to HIV counseling and testing among people who inject drugs in Central Asia: strategies for improving access and linkages to treatment and care

Assel Terlikbayeva et al. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2013 Nov.

Abstract

Introduction: As a population profoundly affected by the HIV epidemic and in critical need of linkages to HIV treatment and care, PWID in Central Asia remain largely underserved. This paper provides an overview of the current state of HIV testing and counseling in Central Asia for PWID, identifies main barriers leading to gaps in service delivery, and discusses implications for improving strategies that promote HIV testing for PWID.

Methods: We reviewed a number of sources for this paper including unpublished government reports, published papers, and Ministries of Health of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan country progress reports to the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS) for 2012.

Results: Between 29 and 65% of PLWH in some Central Asian countries have been tested for HIV in the last 12 months. The rates have been increasing in the recent years but still are relatively low. Stigma, discrimination, human rights violations, and repressive legislation are barriers to HTC for people who inject drugs (PWID).

Conclusion: The use of innovative evidence-based HTC models, such as community mobile-vans, self-testing at home, and rapid HIV testing among PWID in Central Asia are discussed and recommendations given regarding amendments in legislation and scaling up of existing community-based pilot projects to support HIV testing among PWID in CA.

Keywords: Central Asia; HIV; HIV testing; PWID; Rapid tests.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
HIV testing among PWID in four Central Asian countries
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Central Asia AIDS Control Project (CAAP) Assessment and evaluation of capacity of medical facilities to conduct provider-initiated VCT. 2010
    1. Saliev Daniyar. UNDP Kyrgyzstan, personal communication on June 20th, 2013.
    1. Degenhardt L, Mathers B, Vickerman P, Rhodes T, Latkin C, Hickman M. Prevention of HIV infection for people who inject drugs: why individual, structural, and combination approaches are needed. Lancet. 2010;376:285–301. - PubMed
    1. Deryabina A. Mapping of Key HIV Services, Assessment of Their Quality, andAnalysis of Gaps and Needs of Most-at-Risk Populations in Chui Oblast and Bishkek City, Kyrgyzstan. USAID's AIDS Support and Technical Assistance, Resources, AIDSTAR-One, Task Order 1; Arlington, VA: 2011.
    1. El-Bassel N, Gilbert L, Terlikbayeva A, Wu E, Beyrer C, Shaw S, Hunt T, Ma X, Chang M, Ismayilova L, Tukeyev M, Zhussupov B, Rozental Y. HIV among injection drug users and their intimate partners in Almaty. Kazakhstan: in press AIDS Behav. DOI 10.1007/s10461-013-0484-2. - PMC - PubMed