Strengthening HIV Prevention to Achieve Better Health-Related Outcomes for People in Detention in Uzbekistan

8 November 2019, Tashkent, Uzbekistan - Law enforcement health unit staff play a critical role in ensuring access to essential harm reduction and HIV prevention services in prison settings. Improving access to the prevention, treatment and care services remains an important and integral component of HIV reduction in the penitentiary system. UNODC works in close collaboration with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Republican AIDS Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan in strengthening efforts on HIV prevention, harm reduction services.

Such, national training for 30 health units law enforcement staff has been carried out on November 7-9 in "Asia" hotel in Tashkent city. This training is conducted within the joint activity plan of the UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia.

During the training participants improved their knowledge on HIV trends on the global, regional and national context, learned the importance of collaboration between the health units and the Republican AIDS Center and developed an action plan to improve HIV diagnostics, treatment and care services for the key population in prisons.

Besides, the training is aimed to strengthen the collaboration between UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Republican AIDS Center in improving the capacity and linkages on HIV prevention, and to achieve better health-related outcomes for the key population.  

Dr. Mohigul Musabekova, Head of the methodologic unit of the Republican AIDS Center, stated that "joining efforts and close collaboration with UNODC and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan is key and crucial for an efficient, well-functioning HIV prevention measures and empowers the key population in prison to benefit from services when it is most needed."

The Government of Uzbekistan actively collaborates with UNODC in fulfillment of the global HIV prevention pledges and commitments. Strengthening HIV prevention in the penitentiary system aims to maximize timely and reliable access to services for the Injecting Drug Users and prisoners and facilitates the achievement of universal health coverage, goals of Sub-program 3 "Drug prevention, treatment and reintegration and HIV prevention" of the UNODC Programme for Central Asia and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Uzbekistan. 

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