A new hotline, just launched in September 2006, is addressing one of the most important (and least discussed) health issues for urban youth in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Although HIV/AIDS is a growing problem in Central Asia—concentrated especially among urban youth—this is the first free and confidential source of HIV/AIDS information universally available. Anonymity is extremely important because stigma and discrimination keep many people from seeking HIV/AIDS information face-to-face. Hotline publicity is also raising general public awareness about HIV/AIDS.The 5-month pilot Almaty HIV/AIDS counseling and information hotline started operating at the beginning of September 2006 and will continue until January 2007. The results of the pilot will help to evaluate whether a telephone hotline approach could make a significant impact on both HIV-infected and at-risk populations by attracting and serving regular callers with counseling and referral information.
Under the guidance of the World Bank’s existing Central Asia AIDS Project and the Republican AIDS Center in Almaty, two young World Bank staff members created the pilot project in partnership with the Adali Public Fund, an Almaty-based NGO headed by Sergey Skakunov, which focuses on homosexual men’s issues. The two young people, Katja Kerschbaumer and Ginger Turner, received funding from an internal grant competition for Bank staff focusing on youth issues in Europe and Central Asia. In August 2006, Katja and Ginger also visited Almaty and presented the hotline to 150 youth leaders from all five Central Asian countries at a World Bank-sponsored Central Asia Youth Camp.
The HIV/AIDS Hotline operates Monday through Friday from 6 to 10pm, with all calls answered by a trained counselor, who can provide information, clinic referrals, or just a friendly ear. A lawyer is also available on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 9pm to provide counseling concerning HIV-related law violations. Legal counseling is a particularly important innovation, as no free and anonymous source of HIV-related legal counseling existed in Kazakhstan prior to the start of the hotline, and examples from neighboring countries have shown that such services attract long waiting lists.
Since the hotline’s start in mid-September, it has generated a great deal of interest in Almaty. If early call numbers are any indicator, there is considerable demand for free and anonymous HIV/AIDS information in Almaty.
For more information, please contact Katja Kerschbaumer at or Ginger Turner at
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