DUSHANBE, October 5, 2010, Asia-Plus — The 2nd Central Asian scientific and practical conference entitled “HIV/TB: Towards Universal Access” is opening in Dushanbe tomorrow.
Organized by AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW) in cooperation with the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Tajikistan under financial support of the European Union, Central Asia AIDS Control Project (CAAP), and Open Society Institute/Assistance Foundation (OSI/AF), this two-day event is expected to bring together some 100 representatives from public health services, educational institutions, penitentiary departments and working groups for HIV/TB from Central Asian countries, public associations ad international organizations implementing HIV/TB prevention programs, according to the AFEW representative office in Tajikistan.
The conference participants will discuss the HIV/TB epidemiologic situation in the Central Asian region, HIV/TB prevention problems, treatment and care of patients, as well as role of NGOs in tackling problems of access to services reducing the HIV/TB co-infection risk.
The conference will also discuss an effectiveness of the regional strategy on HIV/TB that was developed in the framework of the first conference that took place in Kyrgyzstan last year.
Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV—both individual and co-infection rates—are expected to increase significantly in the region if adequate measures are not taken to halt their spread and to treat those already infected. The prevalence of TB in the region and the growing problem of multi-drug resistant TB render prevention, treatment and care for it among people living with HIV (PLHIV) a top priority. Furthermore, HIV/TB co-infection remains the leading opportunistic infection for PLHIV in the EECA region. When HIV and TB coalesce, their combination can be fatal unless properly treated.
Hence, AFEW’s HIV/TB collaborative programs are designed to improve the quality, range and reach of HIV and TB services available and to facilitate the coordination of HIV/TB activities between vertically separated and isolated healthcare structures. Likewise, AFEW’s activities seek to increase communication, co-ordination, and collaboration within the community and across the highly vertically organized and highly specialized pillars of the healthcare system.
AFEW’s programs to address HIV and TB co-infection have been developed around a mixed balance of three inter-related components, including policy development awareness raising and advocacy, capacity and skills building, and direct service support for vulnerable groups.
