AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

July 17, 2007 - According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region has one of the fastest-growing epidemic in the world. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of infections in recent years. In 1994, there were approximately 30,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the region out of a total population of 450 million. But HIV infections began to increase sharply during the late 1990s. By the end of 2006, there were an estimated 1.7 million adults and children living with HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Ukraine and the Russian Federation have the highest numbers of people living with HIV/AIDS in the region. In Estonia, the total number of people living with HIV soared from 12 in 1999 to about 10,000 at the end of 2005. In Latvia, the number of HIV cases also rose to about 10,000, up from only 25 documented cases in 1997. And HIV is also spreading quickly in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Most new HIV infections in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are occurring among young people and the rise of injection drug use across Eastern Europe and Central Asia is fueling the spread of HIV. In the last decade, there has been a significant increase in drug use, particularly of heroin and injectable substances such as poppy straw, an inexpensive liquid opiate brewed from poppy plants. As borders began to open during the economic and political reforms of the early 1990s, there was a significant increase in the exchange of goods, including illegal drugs. Crime networks expanded their operations, and drugs became more readily available.

View full text ››    Print     Email     Comment     Add content

Contributor: Anuradha Bhattacharjee
Published Date: May 8, 2008