HIV Prevalence in Central Asia

"Although there are fast-growing HIV epidemics across central Asia, Uzbekistan has the largest number of people with HIV and is experiencing a particularly deteriorating situation (table 2).^1,16,21–23 The number of people newly diagnosed with HIV has increased more than 11 times in Uzbekistan between 2001 and 2006 compared with four times in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.²⁴ Young people have been most affected by the HIV epidemic: in Uzbekistan 8413 (64%) of 13,146 cumulative HIV cases have been among people aged 34 years or younger,²⁵ in Kyrgyzstan 773 (57%) of 1357 cases are in those younger than 30 years,26 and in Kazakhstan 891 (45%) of 1979 cases registered in 2007 were in the 20–29 year age group.²⁷ The predominant HIV genetic subtype in central Asia is subtype A, as it is in eastern Europe, distinguishing the epidemic in this sub-region from that in western Europe, where subtype B predominates.^28–30"