Every year, by Resolution of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Resolution of the UN General Assembly adopted in 1988, the 1st of December has been commemorated as a World Day of combating Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
This date was specified with the purpose of drawing the attention of the international community to the prevalence of HIV infection that is taking on the scale of a global pandemic, spreading across all regions of the world.
The topic "Achieving the zero mark: No new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths.” was chosen as a slogan for conducting World AIDS Day for five years (2011-2015). The slogan focuses mainly on striving for new generations without HIV!
In Tajikistan, according to the data from the National Center for the AIDS Prevention and Control, as of the 1st of October 2013, since 1991 there were officially registered 5,382 cases of HIV. HIV prevalence among migrants is 0.4% which is significantly lower than among other groups. Migration in itself is not a health risk, but conditions in which migrants find themselves in on the way to another country, as well as living and working conditions in the host country may affect their health, including the migrants’ behavior. In this regard, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Republic of Tajikistan, together with IOM, the Ministry of Labour, Migration and Employment of the Republic of Tajikistan, non-governmental organizations and other partners is actively working among migrants for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections and HIV.
From November 28 to December 3, 2013 a week of information and education arrangements dedicated to the World AIDS Day is being conducted in 35 districts and cities of the country following the nine-month information campaign among migrant workers and their families, which reached more than 200,000 people. Interactive meetings with migrant workers and community activists, health fairs, drawing competitions among migrants’ children, quizzes, and theatrical performances will be organized by non-government organizations together with local centers on AIDS prevention and control, doctors of Friendly Points for migrants and local authorities.
The week-long campaign against AIDS is conducted within the framework of the IOM project "HIV prevention among migrant workers and their families in Tajikistan" in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Republic of Tajikistan with the financial support of UNDP as the Principal Recipient of the Global Fund against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Tajikistan.