UNDP Tajikistan - Press Release

28 October 2009, Dushanbe - Today the ceremony of donation of the prophylactic goods to medical institutions in Dushanbe and districts of Republican Subordination was held at the warehouse of the Republican Centre on procurement of medical supplies and equipment. The medical institutions will be supplied with overall 1.5 million disposable syringes, 1.5 million alcohol swabs, and containers for collection of used syringes and disposable medical gloves. The prophylactic goods were procured under the framework of the UNDP HIV Project funded by the Global Fund on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

The ceremony is a part of the campaign "Protecting Healthcare Workers from HIV-infection”, being conducted in all regions of the country under the initiative of the National Coordination Committee on HIV/ AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tajikistan. First Deputy Minister of Health, Ms. Dzhobirova Saida Boboevna, Country Director of UNDP, Mr. Rastislav Vrbensky, as well as representatives of the Health Administration of Dushanbe Khukumat, other healthcare institutions and mass media were present at the donation ceremony of the prophylactic goods for medical facilities. In the context of the campaign, a series of trainings are being conducted for decision makers of healthcare facilities on universal prevention measures in healthcare facilities as well as information-educational materials have been developed and distributed.

The rapid increase in the number of HIV-infected people makes occupational risk of HIV infection of healthcare workers no longer theoretical but a real and actual problem. Professional contact with blood is one of the most pressing healthcare problems in the world. Immediately after the discovery of HIV, attention to the problem of occupational risk had been paid much. In 1984, USA reported a case of HIV by health care worker during medical procedure (injecting) to HIV patient. Since then, the information of hundreds of similar cases got accumulated.