QURGHON TEPPA, December 1, Asia-Plus – To date, 174 HIV sufferers, including 37 women, have been officially reported in the Khatlon province, the Khatlon health directorate head Fayzali Nazarov remarked at an event dedicated to World AIDS Day that was held in Qurghon Teppa on December 1.
According to him, injecting drug users make 60 percent of the officially registered HIV sufferers in the province. “Smuggling of drugs out of Afghanistan into Tajikistan though some districts of Khatlon promotes increase in number of HIV cases in the province,” Nazarov said.
In the meantime, Davron Kunghurotov, the director of the Khatlon AIDS Center, noted that 51 new cases of HIV have been registered in Khatlon over the first ten months of this year, which is 70 percent more than in the same period of 2006.
“Every month, some 2,000 people do a test for AIDS/HIV in our labs,” said Kunqhurotov, “Six babies have to date been born to mothers with HIV; they are under constant supervision of specialists.
The Khatlon AIDS Center head added that nine persons have died of AIDS/HIV in the province since the beginning of this year.
