Your daily Selection of IRIN Africa PlusNews reports, 9/25/2006

[Guest guest]

U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) -

[These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENT:

1 - CENTRAL ASIA: Regional HIV/AIDS conference kicks off

1 - CENTRAL ASIA: Regional HIV/AIDS conference kicks off

ANKARA, 25 September (PLUSNEWS) - Participants at an international conference on

combating the spread of HIV/AIDS in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, which

opened in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on Monday, are calling for greater

regional cooperation to tackle the disease.

" No country in the world is protected against the HIV/AIDS epidemic, therefore

the fight against this dreadful disease should be conducted on a regional

level, " said Erkinbek Alymbekov, deputy speaker of the Kyrgyz parliament, where

the event was held.

Representatives of parliaments and health ministries from Central Asian

countries, Russia, Ukraine and leading international agencies and NGOs are among

participants at the conference.

" Lawmakers in the region have the most important role in terms of legislative

efforts on the adoption and implementation of effective measures to fight the

HIV/AIDS epidemic, " Alymbekov added.

The conference, entitled: 'The HIV Epidemic in Central Asia and Eastern Europe:

Legislative Measures to Combat the Spread of HIV and Priorities for Regional

ation', is supported by the Central Asia AIDS Control Project (CAAP) and

Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS (TPAA), an international NGO working on

HIV/AIDS awareness raising.

CAAP is financed by the World Bank and the UK Department for International

Development (DfID). The regional project is aimed at reducing the negative

social-economic consequences of the generalised HIV/AIDS epidemic in Central

Asia.

Central Asia has witnessed a dramatic increase in infection rates over the past

four years. Officially reported cases jumped from about 500 in 2000 to over

12,000 in 2004.

But unreported cases are thought to be much larger; the US Center for Disease

Control and Prevention estimates that there are some 90,000 people in Central

Asia living with HIV/AIDS. The epidemic is driven by injecting drug use and is

concentrated among young people.

" This of course puts all branches of the state, including the legislator, on

alert. There needs to be improved legislation aimed at excluding the cases of

stigma and discrimination [of those living with HIV]. First of all, this

concerns vulnerable groups, like injecting drug users, sex workers and labour

migrants, whose numbers have considerably increased [in the region] over the

past decade, " Tilek Meimanaliev, executive director of CAAP, said in Bishkek.

" This conference will give a unique opportunity to share experience in this area

and discuss best practices, " Meimanaliev added.

Worldwide, evidence suggests that early action can avoid huge costs later. The

uninhibited spread of HIV in Central Asia over the next decade would slow

economic growth by an estimated 20 percent in Uzbekistan and by 10 percent in

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the conference organisers said in a statement. Region

wide, a generalised epidemic could lead to an annual decline in economic growth

of between a half and one percentage point, hitting all areas of the economy

from the oil and gas giants to the finance sector and smaller enterprises and

agriculture.

GM/AT/JL/DS

[ENDS]

This is non-reply e-mail. Please do not hesitate to contact us at

Mail@....

Principal donors: IRIN is generously supported by Australia, Canada, Denmark,

ECHO, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and

the United States of America. For more information, go to:

http://www.IRINnews.org/donors

[This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information

service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its

agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer

to the copyright page (Http://www.irinnews.org/copyright ) for conditions of

use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian

Affairs.]

PLUSNEWS

Tel: +27 11 895-1900

Fax: +27 11 784-6759

Email: Mail@...

To make changes to or cancel your subscription visit:

http://www.irinnews.org/subscriptions

Subscriber: AIDS treatments

[Guest guest]

U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) -

[These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENT:

1 - CENTRAL ASIA: Regional HIV/AIDS conference kicks off

1 - CENTRAL ASIA: Regional HIV/AIDS conference kicks off

ANKARA, 25 September (PLUSNEWS) - Participants at an international conference on

combating the spread of HIV/AIDS in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, which

opened in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on Monday, are calling for greater

regional cooperation to tackle the disease.

" No country in the world is protected against the HIV/AIDS epidemic, therefore

the fight against this dreadful disease should be conducted on a regional

level, " said Erkinbek Alymbekov, deputy speaker of the Kyrgyz parliament, where

the event was held.

Representatives of parliaments and health ministries from Central Asian

countries, Russia, Ukraine and leading international agencies and NGOs are among

participants at the conference.

" Lawmakers in the region have the most important role in terms of legislative

efforts on the adoption and implementation of effective measures to fight the

HIV/AIDS epidemic, " Alymbekov added.

The conference, entitled: 'The HIV Epidemic in Central Asia and Eastern Europe:

Legislative Measures to Combat the Spread of HIV and Priorities for Regional

ation', is supported by the Central Asia AIDS Control Project (CAAP) and

Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS (TPAA), an international NGO working on

HIV/AIDS awareness raising.

CAAP is financed by the World Bank and the UK Department for International

Development (DfID). The regional project is aimed at reducing the negative

social-economic consequences of the generalised HIV/AIDS epidemic in Central

Asia.

Central Asia has witnessed a dramatic increase in infection rates over the past

four years. Officially reported cases jumped from about 500 in 2000 to over

12,000 in 2004.

But unreported cases are thought to be much larger; the US Center for Disease

Control and Prevention estimates that there are some 90,000 people in Central

Asia living with HIV/AIDS. The epidemic is driven by injecting drug use and is

concentrated among young people.

" This of course puts all branches of the state, including the legislator, on

alert. There needs to be improved legislation aimed at excluding the cases of

stigma and discrimination [of those living with HIV]. First of all, this

concerns vulnerable groups, like injecting drug users, sex workers and labour

migrants, whose numbers have considerably increased [in the region] over the

past decade, " Tilek Meimanaliev, executive director of CAAP, said in Bishkek.

" This conference will give a unique opportunity to share experience in this area

and discuss best practices, " Meimanaliev added.

Worldwide, evidence suggests that early action can avoid huge costs later. The

uninhibited spread of HIV in Central Asia over the next decade would slow

economic growth by an estimated 20 percent in Uzbekistan and by 10 percent in

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the conference organisers said in a statement. Region

wide, a generalised epidemic could lead to an annual decline in economic growth

of between a half and one percentage point, hitting all areas of the economy

from the oil and gas giants to the finance sector and smaller enterprises and

agriculture.

GM/AT/JL/DS

[ENDS]

This is non-reply e-mail. Please do not hesitate to contact us at

Mail@....

Principal donors: IRIN is generously supported by Australia, Canada, Denmark,

ECHO, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and

the United States of America. For more information, go to:

http://www.IRINnews.org/donors

[This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information

service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its

agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer

to the copyright page (Http://www.irinnews.org/copyright ) for conditions of

use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian

Affairs.]

PLUSNEWS

Tel: +27 11 895-1900

Fax: +27 11 784-6759

Email: Mail@...

To make changes to or cancel your subscription visit:

http://www.irinnews.org/subscriptions

Subscriber: AIDS treatments