In Kyrgyzstan children with HIV will get antiretroviral treatment

By the end of 2017 all children and adolescents with HIV in Kyrgyzstan will be receiving antiretroviral treatment.

The UN children's Fund (UNICEF) in Kyrgyzstan in its work on HIV and plans to cover 95% of all HIV-infected children and adolescents on antiretroviral treatment. Activities to improve the health of HIV-infected children and early diagnosis of HIV will be held throughout the country from March to December 2017. The event is funded by the joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) with support from the government of the Russian Federation through the program for the prevention and control of HIV and other infectious diseases in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

In Kyrgyzstan in January 2017 were registered 717 HIV-infected children and adolescents, of which 417 are on antiretroviral treatment. Each year from HIV-infected mothers are born at about 70-80 newborns. But thanks to the measures to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child (PMTCT) at health facility and increasing coverage of PMTCT among pregnant women and children are born free from HIV.

Modern methods of HIV diagnosis on a dry drop of blood helps to start treating children as early as possible, thereby giving them a chance and the right to health and life.

Teens and children living with HIV are at risk of spreading the virus. More than 90% of HIV-positive children identified in 2007, are unaware of their HIV status and do not receive adequate psychosocial support. Only 19.8% of women aged 15-24 years have comprehensive knowledge about HIV (correctly identify ways of preventing the sexual transmission of HIV and major misconceptions about HIV transmission). Unsafe injecting practices combined with unsafe sexual practices have led to a high level of HIV infection among key populations.

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