DUSHANBE, May 24, Asia-Plus — Issues related to establishing and developing the Central Asian information and education center for cooperation with Islamic clerics on HIV/AIDS campaign were a focus of a roundtable meeting that was held in Dushanbe on May 23.
The meeting, staged by Central Asia AIDS Control Project in cooperation with the Ministry of Health (MoH), was held within the framework of the program for strengthening regional initiatives on preventing spread of HIV/ADIS and involving clerics in the HIV/AIDS campaign.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Andrey Sidorin, communications coordinator, Central Asia AIDS Control Project, said that the meeting participants included Muslim leaders from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, representatives of Islamic educational facilities and state agencies for religious affairs from the mentioned Central Asian states, as well as UNDP.
The meeting organizers expressed hope that Muslim community leaders will actively participate in working out and implementing HIV prevention programs.
The meeting participants agreed that Central Asian information and education center for cooperation with Islamic clerics on HIV/AIDS campaign will be located in Kyrgyzstan.
We will recall that the First Regional Basic Training Seminar to train trainers from among Muslim community leaders on HIV/AIDS campaign ended Dushanbe on May 22. During three days, the seminar participants discussed issues related to HIV epidemic problems, models of response to HIV epidemic in other Islamic states, and implementation of Islamic guidelines on HIV/AIDS. The well-trained 30 Muslim leaders will then participate in HIV/AIDS campaign in their communities.
The Central Asia AIDS Control Project aims at contributing to minimizing the potential negative human and economic impact of a generalized HIV/AIDS epidemic.
