Contacts: in Astana: Batybek Zhumadil, tel 7-300-712-0392 E-mail: [email protected] in Washington, DC: Merrell Tuck-Primdahl, mobil 202 415 1775
E-mail: [email protected]
ALMATY, May 12, 2005 ¾ A $27 million Regional AIDS Control Project was launched today by parties to the Central Asia Cooperation Organization. The project aims to minimize the human and economic impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in four Central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, which are part of the Central Asia Cooperation Organization (CACO). A May 12-13 project launch workshop is bringing together officials from Governments, including ministries of health, justice, foreign affairs, and social development, NGOs, and the private sector. Several international organizations are taking part in the event, which is being organized by CACO’s Regional Project Management Unit in co-operation with the World Bank, UNAIDS, and the UK Department for International Development (DfID). Central Asian governments who are members of CACO took the occasion of the workshop to sign two grant agreements that will help fund the project. The first is an estimated US$25 million International Development Association grant. The second is a £1 million grant from DfID. “This first-ever multi-country AIDS project for the Europe and Central Asia region aims to close the financial gap needed to provide prevention options for people most at risk, including migrants, prisoners, injecting drug users, sex workers and men who have sex with men. It is only through attention to these groups that we will be able to prevent huge social and economic costs in the medium term,” explained Mr. Tilek Meimanaliev, Project Director and former Minister of Health for the Kyrgyz Republic. 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. Unreported cases are thought to be much larger; the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States estimates that in Central Asia there are some 90,000 people in the sub-region living with HIV/AIDS. The epidemic is driven by injecting drug use and is concentrated among young people. It is compounded by a dual epidemic of tuberculosis, which is endemic in prisons. “This project has three main goals: reduce the growth rate of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Central Asia in the period 2005-10; establish a Regional AIDS Fund to finance HIV/AIDS prevention and control activities in the Region beyond the end of the project; and contribute to better regional cooperation in Central Asia,” said Joana Godinho, a Senior Health Specialist, who managed the Central Asia AIDS Project. The project, with an estimated total cost of about $27 million, has three components: Regional Coordination, Policy Development and Capacity Strengthening: Setting up a legal environment that allows for implementation of an appropriate HIV/AIDS regional strategy, including prevention work with vulnerable groups; improving information and decision-making based on good-quality epidemiological data; and strengthening institutional capacity. Central Asia AIDS Fund: A Regional AIDS Fund will be set up to fund initiatives to contain the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Central Asia. The Fund will provide incentives for greater regional cooperation, as well as cooperation between public and private sector, and between different public services, such as the AIDS centers and prisons. Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation: The project will support the operation of executive bodies, including the Regional Project Management Unit and Country Coordinators, in each of the four participating countries. Country and sector issues Governments, NGOs and partner organizations working in the field have initiated appropriate early action to avoid a major epidemic: Central Asian Governments have approved and, in cooperation with nongovernmental organizations and international organizations, have started implementing evidence-based regional, national, and, in some cases, sector-specific HIV/AIDS strategies. These plans were prepared with assistance from UNAIDS, the umbrella coalition of agencies coordinating global support to fight the pandemic, to which the World Bank is a co-sponsor. A Regional AIDS Strategy prepared by UNAIDS in collaboration with Central Asian countries provided the framework for country-specific strategies. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan applied for, and have been granted, funding, including resources from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM). “This Regional Project will complement country-specific activities financed by Governments, the Bank and other partners. Implementing the ambitious goals we have laid out will require continued commitment from top public officials and donors alike,” stressed Chris Lovelace, World Bank Acting Regional Director. Through DfID, the United Kingdom has focused its donor role in Central Asia on poverty reduction. “We see the £1 million grant signed today as a sign of our commitment to assist countries in Central Asia to scale up the effort against HIV/AIDS. Effective, sustained use of all resources, applying the 3 one principles, will give Central Asia the chance to become a global success story” commented Jason Lane, Head of DfID’s Office in the Kyrgyz Republic.
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For details on the Bank’s work on HIV/AIDS in ECA, go to: http://www.worldbank.org/eca/aids Information on DfID can be found at: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/default.asp For the latest data on HIV/AIDS go to: http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp |
