Campaign to halt the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS begins

When Dilnara tested HIV positive she was told by the doctor not to mix with “normal people”. With little access to information or counselling, she believed the doctor and stayed at home for a year, frightened and alone. “I was ignorant about HIV. But now I know I am normal and I’m helping others to overcome the despair and rejection that I first felt,” Dilnara said in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. HIV is spreading faster in eastern Europe and Central Asia than anywhere else in the world, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and other UN organisations. Whilst the majority of people living with HIV are in Russia and Ukraine, Uzbekistan is experiencing a dramatic rise. In 1999, just 76 cases were registered. In 2004, the number rose to 5,612, with over 2,000 new cases in that year alone, the majority under 30 years old, according to the Republican AIDS Centre in Tashkent. These figures hide a potentially devastating epidemic, as the stigma attached to both drug use and HIV in countries like Uzbekistan means that for every registered case there are likely to be many more unreported – up to five to six times as many, according to estimates by UNAIDS and others. The growing epidemic has been fuelled by intravenous drug use. However, increasing rates of sexually transmitted HIV indicate a significant risk of it spreading to the general population. Women and girls are particularly at risk and account for an increasing share of new cases of HIV - from 12.4 percent in 2001 to 18.4 percent in 2004. “I started to use drugs after my child was born. He was constantly crying and I needed to calm my nerves. My husband got me the drugs.” Dilnara continued. After her husband left her, Dilnara’s drug use eventually led to her being imprisoned for six months. When she came out she tried to start a new, drug-free, life. “It was a struggle as I had no job and no money. The only way I could earn money was to become a sex worker. I tried to get customers to use condoms but they would not – and I had to carry on, as I needed the money to live and to bring up my child.” A routine operation led to Dilnara undertaking a blood test and she was found to be HIV positive. “I wanted to end my life. It seemed so pointless,” she said. She eventually found out that there were organisations in Uzbekistan providing advice and support, including Republican AIDS Centres. She visited one of the centres and it changed her life. The only way to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS is through protection and prevention. However, Uzbek studies reveal that young people are still not well-informed about the killer disease. Two out of every five young people are not sure how HIV is transmitted, while three out of five, think it is possible to become infected with HIV through kissing, sharing dishes of food and/or mosquito bites. Over 50 percent of young Uzbeks do not know how to use a condom correctly, whilst others do not want to use condoms. A surprisingly high number (55 percent) believe that there is nothing a person can do to avoid HIV/AIDS. On 26 October 2005 a national campaign to halt the rise in HIV and help those already infected, began in Uzbekistan. The campaign links local and national government, the UN system, the international community, civil society and popular personalities, in scaling-up access to prevention services, particularly to the most vulnerable groups, such as injecting drug users and sex workers. The national campaign was launched to coincide with a five-year global campaign entitled: “Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS”, launched in October 2005 by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) head Ann Veneman and UNAIDS chief Peter Piot. At the Uzbek launch, Tanzila Norbaeva, from the cabinet of ministers, underlined the government’s commitment to the campaign and its own National Strategic Plan, emphasising the role of UNICEF and other UN agencies in providing support. Internationally acclaimed Uzbek singer and musician, Sevara Nazarkhan, a favourite of young people, urged that young people and HIV-positive people should be involved in the decision-making process related to HIV/AIDS. “All over the world, stigma and discrimination has come in the way of truly responding to the AIDS crisis. We need to overcome that. To do that we need to hear the voices of those who are living the reality of HIV,” she said. The campaign promotes the involvement of young people and the introduction of ‘youth-friendly services’ which respond to young people’s need for appropriate information and services. Centres have been established where testing, counselling or needle exchange is available; health centres providing accessible and affordable care services are being established; and peer educators are being trained. Dilnara now works for an organisation that helps people infected with HIV, providing counselling, advice, awareness-raising in schools and institutes and other services. Dilnara talks with a great passion about her work: “I can see changes in people’s minds and attitudes. This is very important,” she said, “and personally it’s now four years since I last used drugs. I am bringing up my son and I feel normal, happy.”