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
. 2023 May 24;20(11):5937.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20115937.

HIV and Hepatitis C Risk among Tajik Migrant Workers Who Inject Drugs in Moscow

Mary Ellen Mackesy-Amiti  1 , Judith A Levy  1 , Mahbatsho Bahromov  2 , Jonbek Jonbekov  2 , Casey M Luc  1
Affiliations

HIV and Hepatitis C Risk among Tajik Migrant Workers Who Inject Drugs in Moscow

Mary Ellen Mackesy-Amiti et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia continues to grow with most infections occurring in high-risk groups including people who inject drugs and their sexual partners. Labor migrants from this region who inject drugs while in Russia are at especially high HIV risk. Male Tajik migrant workers who inject drugs in Moscow (N = 420) were interviewed prior to a randomized trial of the Migrants' Approached Self-Learning Intervention in HIV/AIDS (MASLIHAT) peer-education HIV-prevention intervention. Participants were interviewed about their sex and drug use behavior and tested for HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) prior to the intervention. Only 17% had ever been tested for HIV. Over half of the men reported injecting with a previously used syringe in the past month, and substantial proportions reported risky sexual behavior. Prevalence rates of HIV (6.8%) and HCV (2.9%) were elevated, although lower than expected when compared to estimates of prevalence among people who inject drugs at the national level in Tajikistan. Risk behavior in diaspora varied across the men's regional area of origin in Tajikistan and occupation in Moscow, with HIV prevalence rates highest among those working at the bazaars. Evidence-based prevention approaches and messaging that specifically address the drug- and sex-related risk behavior of migrants with varying backgrounds are needed.

Keywords: HIV; Tajik migrant worker; hepatitis C; injection drug use; peer networks; risk behavior.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map of Tajikistan.
Figure 2
Figure 2
HIV and HCV test results by recruitment venue.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Update of

References

    1. UNAIDS Global HIV & AIDS Statistics—2022 Fact Sheet. 2022. [(accessed on 17 August 2022)]. Available online: http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/fact-sheet.
    1. UNAIDS . In Danger: UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2022. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS; Geneva, Switzerland: 2022.
    1. UNAIDS . Prevention Gap Report. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS; Geneva, Switzerland: 2016.
    1. Federal Scientific and Methodological Center for AIDS Prevention and Control, “BИЧ-инфeкция в Poccийcкoй Фeдepaции нa 31.12.2021” [HIV Infection in the Russian Federation as of December 31, 2021] (PDF) 2021. [(accessed on 1 May 2023)]. Available online: http://www.hivrussia.info.
    1. UNAIDS. International Organization for Migration Migration and AIDS. Int. Migr. 1998;36:445–468. doi: 10.1111/1468-2435.00056. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types