DUSHANBE, December 1, 2009, Asia-Plus — Like other countries throughout the world, Tajikistan is marking World AIDS Day today.
Murodali Rouziyev, the director of the republican AIDS Center, told Asia-Plus that a number of HIV-awareness events targeting young people are taking place across the country today.
“A football tournament, involving football teams of the Ministry of Health (MoH) and international organizations active in the country, is being held today at Dushanbe’s Central Stadium under the motto “Protect Yourself against AIDS. Tomorrow Will Be Late,” he said.
According to the MoH data, 1,740 HIV sufferers, including 1,388 men and 352 women, have been officially registered in Tajikistan by this day. 318 news HIV infection cases have been detected in the country since the beginning of this year alone.
Injecting drug users (IDUs) constitute 54 percent of the overall number of the officially registered HIV sufferers in Tajikistan. In Tajikistan, the first HIV infection case was officially registered in the northern Sughd province in 1991.
World AIDS Day, observed December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. It is common to hold memorials to honor persons who have died from HIV/AIDS on this day. Government and health officials also observe the event, often with speeches or forums on the AIDS topics. Since 1995, the President of the United States has made an official proclamation on World AIDS Day. Governments of other nations have followed suit and issued similar announcements.
This theme is not specific to World AIDS Day, but is used year-round in WAC”s (World AIDS Campaign) efforts to highlight HIV/AIDS awareness within the context of other major global events. World AIDS Campaign also conducts “in-country” campaigns throughout the world.
The World AIDS Day theme for 2009 is “Universal Access and Human Rights.” The theme has been chosen to address the critical need to protect human rights and attain access for all to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. It also acts as a call to countries to remove laws that discriminate against people living with HIV, women and marginalized groups. Countries are also urged to realize the many commitments they made to protect human rights in the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS (2001) and the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS (2006).
