Georgian government says it will fully finance AIV treatment
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, December 3
The Ministry of Health has released information that over the next three months, tests for HIV infection will be free in every city and in case of positive results, the government will fully finance the treatment of AIDS.
The decision was made in connection to World AIDS Day, which is marked on December 1.
The United Nations Program against AIDS has started a new campaign, entitled 'On the Fast Track to end AIDS', which aims for HIV elimination throughout the world by 2030.
In the frames of the campaign, a conference was held in Tbilisi. The exhibition and sale of handicrafts made by HIV patients also took place during the conference.
According to the Deputy Health Minister, Valeri Kvaratskhelia, HIV infection detector components will be placed in the Hepatitis C eliminations program, which will help to solve both problems.
In Georgia, the number of AIDS cases continues to increase slowly but we hope that the insertion of HIV infection detector components in the Hepatitis C program will help to stabilize the situation, he noted.
Georgia is counted amongst the AIDS low-prevalence countries. According to 2015 November 20 data, in the Clinical Center of Infectious Diseases, AIDS and Immunology, 5,331 cases of HIV infection have been registered. Of these, 3,932 of them are men and 1,399 women. The majority of patients are aged from age 29 to 39.
According to Dali Usharidze, the Head of the New Way NGO, despite the assistance from the state, the main problem concerning AIDS is the fear amongst the population that they will be isolated from society in case they test positive. That is why most of them refuse to be tested for infection.
World AIDS Day is held on December 1 each year in more than 160 countries and it is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died from the disease. World AIDS Day was the first-ever global health day, held for the first time in 1988.
World AIDS Day is important because it reminds the public and the Government that HIV has not gone away there is still a vital need to raise money, increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education.
