AIDS Foundation East West

* CIS Interstate Committee for Statistics, December 2009
** Tajik Republican AIDS Centre, Ministry of Health of Tajikistan, December 2009
*** ‘Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic', UNAIDS, August 2010

Country Background

A mountainous country and the smallest in Central Asia, Tajikistan shares its borders with Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and China. Tajikistan has been inhabited by various peoples for more than six millennia, with the Persian Empire boasting the longest rule. Russia took control at the end of the 19th century, conceded its power after the 1917 revolution, and regained control in 1924 when Tajikistan became an autonomous republic of the Soviet Union under Uzbekistan and then an independent Socialist Republic in 1929. Tajikistan gained independence in 1991 and established Dushanbe as its capital. The population is comprised mostly of Tajiks with a large Uzbek population and a relatively small Russian community. Although Tajik is the only official language, Russian is often used in business and government proceedings. Ninety percent (90%) of the population is Muslim.

Tajikistan was and remains the poorest country in Central Asia and one of the poorest in the world. Shortly after obtaining independence, Tajikistan fell into a bitter civil war lasting from 1992 to 1999. The Tajik economy, which relies mostly on cotton and aluminium, is extremely vulnerable and has been assisted largely by international aid.

HIV Situation

Tajikistan’s economy and healthcare systems have been slow to recuperate from the damage caused by the civil war of the 1990s. Since 1996, Tajikistan has seen a sharp rise in the number of injecting drug users, among whom the HIV epidemic is currently concentrated. Tajikistan is a major hub on the drug trafficking route from Afghanistan and has the world’s third highest number of annual opiate seizures. High rates of migration and a high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) also act as catalysts for the growing epidemic. Furthermore, little knowledge about HIV transmission routes prevails amongst the population and there is a severe shortage of trained healthcare providers. Nonetheless, the government has shown a commitment to address these issues and has promoted educational programmes as well as the distribution of condoms and clean injecting equipment to vulnerable groups. In 2006, Tajikistan was the only country in Central Asia to successfully apply for funding for an HIV project through Round 6 of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s call for proposals.