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Narcotics Addiction and AIDS Spread in Central Asia
From Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.... A 2002 report provides the UNâs latest estimates on the number of drug users in the region. According to the report -- based on an assessment launched in 2000 -- the number of drug addicts in Kazakhstan, a country of some 15 million, is estimated to be as high as 186,000. Neighboring Kyrgyzstan is estimated to have as many as 100,000 drug users out of 5 million people. The number of drug users in Tajikistan, a country of 6 million, is believed to be as high as 55,000. In Uzbekistan, the most populous Central Asia country with 25 million people, the number was estimated at between 65,000 and 91,000. No figures were available on Turkmenistan ... for lack of cooperation with the international community in its fight against illicit drugs. James Callahan, the regional director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told RFE/RL that the drug problem has worsened in the region, particularly over the past two years .... the situation is continuing to deteriorate or get worse again because of the increasing traffic from Afghanistan." .... An additional problem is that heroin addicts in Central Asia use the drug intravenously -- something that has contributed to one of the worldâs fastest-growing infection rates of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. .... In 1995, 88 persons were officially registered as being infected with HIV/AIDS in the region. In 2003, reported infections jumped to more than 6,700. These are only the registered cases. Experts warn the real figures are significantly higher. The World Bank estimates that the real number of HIV-positive cases in Central Asia most likely approaches 90,000. ... Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-06-22 |
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