World Vision HIV/AIDS website launched

A project on HIV/AIDS prevention among high-risk groups and youth in the Uzbek capital Tashkent, implemented jointly by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and World Vision Japan/Uzbekistan, has recently launched its web site. The two-year "SOS" project, which kicked off at the beginning of the year, continues the work of the former project by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Uzbek government on promoting a multi-sectoral effective response to drug abuse, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the country, which ended on 31 December 2003. "The activities of the project are designed to contribute to the reduction of the HIV infection rate in Tashkent city by promoting behaviour change to high-risk groups and youth," Eiko Oka Thompson, a project manager with World Vision Japan/Uzbekistan, told IRIN from Tashkent on Wednesday. "The project's website, www.aids-drugs.uz, was created to contribute to this overall goal. It is aimed at raising awareness among youth and high-risk groups regarding HIV/AIDS related issues and drug abuse," Thompson added. The SOS project's web page contains material on HIV/AIDS issues, information for people living with the infection, specialists' advice, and support and details on HIV/AIDS prevention. "The website is very valuable because it is easily accessed and the Internet serves as a powerful tool to communicate health messages and to promote a healthy lifestyle to a larger population," Thompson said. Focus groups and discussions with the target populations identified the Internet as a very important source of information, according to World Vision Japan/Uzbekistan. "In Tashkent, there are many Internet cafes with people, especially members of our target groups, using these services every day," the World Vision official noted. "We expect our project's website to become a source of health information and an avenue for communication and dialogue for members of our target groups and also others who visit the website," Thompson added. According to the Uzbek HIV/AIDS centre, there were some 3,600 officially registered cases of HIV/AIDS in Uzbekistan by January 2004, with some 70 percent of them in the capital and the surrounding Tashkent province. However, some experts say that the real number of HIV-infected people could be 10 times the official figure. Some 175 people are recorded as having died of AIDS-related illnesses. The main mode of transmission is through infected blood, accounting for more than 60 percent of cases, including injecting drug usage. Around 13 percent of infections were contracted via sex and some 25 percent of cases are still being investigated.