DUSHANBE, August 24, 2009, Asia-Plus — The first Central Asian theoretical and practical conference titled “HIV/TB: Lessons and Challenges of Dual Epidemic” was launched in Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk-Kul region (Baet village, “Ak-Maral” boarding house) today.
The event, organized by Dutch humanitarian public health organization AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW), Central Asian AIDS Project (CAAP) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) runs through August 26.
The conference has gathered representatives of AIDS-servicing organizations and TB institutions of civil and penal systems, nurses, professors of medical schools and members of thematic and working groups on HIV/TB. Representatives of non-governmental and international organizations as well as officials from different ministries and institutions from all Central Asian republics and Azerbaijan responsible for HIV,TB and HIV/TB prevention are also taking part in the event.
The conference participants are exchanging practical experience, scientific data and information on actual activities held to treat and support patients with co-infection, reduce the risks of HIV/TB co-infection development. They are also working out a regional strategy to counteract the spread of HIV/TB.
Participants will examine international strategies of HIV/TB control; discuss cooperation of AIDS and TB services, penal and civil healthcare systems; state, non-governmental and international organizations in coordination and implementation of best approaches and practices in the area of HIV/TB.
Prior to the conference, the region’s leading experts on HIV/TB, practicing doctors and professors have collected research papers. The collection will be published in the framework of the conference and handed out to participants.
Also in the framework of the conference the first meeting of regional nurses will take place. Titled “The role of nurses in control of socially important diseases,” the meeting’s motto is “Nurses are for safe and effective medical aid!”
AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW) – is a Dutch, non-governmental, humanitarian, public health organization working in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) to reduce the impact of HIV and AIDS using innovative and proactive approaches and by actively seeking international and regional exchanges. Together with and for people living with HIV and affected communities, as well as non-governmental and governmental partners, AFEW conducts and supports programs aimed at the prevention of HIV; universal access to treatment, care and support; and advocacy on the most pressing issues to alleviate the burden of the epidemic in the EECA region.
The Central Asia AIDS Project (CAAP), funded by the World Bank and DFID is aimed at contribution to controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS in participating countries in the Central Asia Region by establishing regional mechanisms to support national HIV/AIDS programs. It will be done through developing institutional framework to inform policies at national/regional levels; the establishment of Regional AIDS Fund as a sustainable mechanism for financing of HIV counteraction activities and strengthening the capacity and cooperation between the Public, Nongovernmental (NGOs) and the Private sectors on the regional and national levels There main Project components: Improving the Regional Coordination and Institutional Capacity Strengthening, Central Asian Regional AIDS Fund, and Monitoring and Evaluation
