HIV/AIDS in Kazakhstan


  • Kazakhstan has more cases of HIV/AIDS than in its four neighboring countries.
  • Registered cases have almost doubled each year since 2000.The first case was reported in 1987. By mid-2003 the number of registered cases had grown to over 3,600. Sentinel surveillance conducted in 2003 has shown prevalence levels of 3.8% in injecting drug users and 4.6% in sex workers but there are no data concerning men who have sex with men.
  • All oblasts now have confirmed HIV+ cases. The worst affected regions are Karaganda, Pavlodar and Kostanay, and Almaty city.
  • Young people, especially young men,have been disproportionately affected. Over half the infected people are between 20-29 years, almost 90% are between 15-39 years, and almost 80% are men.
  • The most common mode of transmission is infected syringes and needles while injecting drugs.
  • The potential for continued rapid spread among injecting drug users is acute.There are 43 thousand registered drug users although the true number is probably five times greater.
  • The virus is concentrated among unemployed youth and prisoners. Almost 75% of affected persons were unemployed at time of infection. The disease is also increasing rapidly among prisoners.


Government Response

The Government has recently accelerated its actions against HIV.

The National Program for 2001-2005 was approved in 2001.The program has three primary objectives:
  • to prevent the virus from spreading into the general population from high-risk groups,
  • to reduce the growth of the HIV-vulnerable groups,especially the youth,
  • to ensure that at least 80% of HIV-infected persons are covered with medical and social programs to reduce their contagiousness.

Government Strategies

To meet these objectives, the following main strategies of response against HIV were developed:

  • Improving the legal base in connection with the HIV/AIDS issue. This includes strengthening measures to ensure the constitutionally-guaranteed rights and freedoms of citizens, including those who engage in risky behaviors and HIV-infected persons;
  • Improving national policy and practice to support relations between the Government, civil society, and groups which engage in risky behavior;
  • Developing and implementing educational programs and establishing an information environment which promotes an understanding of the HIV/AIDS issue and the hazards of risky behavior;
  • Improving the performance of health services, ensuring quality control of medical and hygienic goods, and monitoring and evaluation of the situation with respect to the HIV/AIDS epidemic;
  • Strengthening the management, coordination and performance of preventive programs on HIV/AIDS.

Obstacles

The obstacles that have been identified by the Government, include:

  • The prevalence of concurrent epidemics of injecting drug use and sexually transmitted infections,
  • Not enough tolerance for activities of vulnerable segments of the population,
  • Slow progress in changing the focus from clinical treatment, toward promotion of healthy lifestyles and prevention activities,
  • Insufficient resources.

 For further details see Report on HIV/AIDS in Central Asia (194 KB, pdf)