Azerbaijan, Baku, March 10 / Trend E. Ostapenko /
More than 1.5 million people live with HIV in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS) reported.
"Since 2001 Eastern Europe and Central Asia are experiencing significant growth in the number of people living with HIV - 66 people," UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Europe and Central Asia director, Dennis Brown, said.
Experts stress that using injecting drugs is the main way of HIV transmission in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In this regard, they propose to strengthen HIV prevention among drug users and their sexual partners.
At the same time, UNAIDS experts stress some improvements in the region, including those associated with the expansion of access to HIV treatment. This led to a decrease in mortality from AIDS.
The level of prevalence in Estonia, Russia exceeds 1 percent. In Ukraine, HIV / AIDS epidemic has reached the most dangerous figures in Europe. UN experts concerned about the fact that the epidemic continues to outstrip the scope and pace of combat.