HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis in Central Asia
The countries of Central Asia are still at the earliest stages of an HIV/AIDS epidemic. However, there is cause for serious concern due to: the steep growth of new HIV cases in the region; the established related epidemics of injecting drug use, se...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Publication |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC: World Bank
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/11/2875686/hivaids-tuberculosis-central-asia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15061 |
| Summary: | The countries of Central Asia are still
at the earliest stages of an HIV/AIDS epidemic. However,
there is cause for serious concern due to: the steep growth
of new HIV cases in the region; the established related
epidemics of injecting drug use, sexually transmitted
infections (STIs) and tuberculosis (TB); youth representing
more than 40 percent of the total regional population; and
the low levels of knowledge about the epidemics. The
underlying causes for the interlinked epidemics of drug
abuse, HIV/AIDS, STIs and TB in Central Asia are many,
including drug production in Afghanistan and its
distribution throughout the Former Soviet Union (FSU);
unemployment among youth; imprisonment for drug use;
overcrowding in prisons; and striking levels of poverty.
HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis may have a potentially devastating
effect on human capital, economic development, and health
systems reform. In Russia, economic analysis has described
the significant future impact on health and health systems
if the concentrated epidemic in that country goes unchecked
(Ruhl et al. 2002). The opportunity for prevention in low
prevalence environments provides an imperative for action,
because when HIV prevalence among high-risk groups reaches
20 percent or more, prevention is no longer possible and
expensive treatment for AIDS and related opportunistic
infections will overwhelm under funded health care systems
such as those in Central Asia. Low prevalence, or nascent
epidemics of HIV create little incentive for focused
attention. However, through careful consideration of the
potential for these epidemics to grow, the World Bank can
help client countries incorporate effective prevention
strategies into health systems development projects or into
specific public health projects to address these infections. |
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