Azerbaijan (pop. 8 411 000)

By the end of 2006, Azerbaijan reported 1010 (cumulative, 955 AZE citizens) HIV cases; 193 of these had been reported diagnosed with AIDS, including 140 who died. Of the cases registered with a known transmission mode (86%), 56% had been infected through injecting drug use, and 22% reported infection through heterosexual contact.

In 2006, 242 new HIV cases were reported; 72% among injecting drug users. Furthermore, 18 new cases of AIDS and 35 deaths among AIDS cases were reported. Available data suggest that 10-15 % of people living with HIV were infected outside of country, mainly in the Russian Federation and Ukraine. 89% of all HIV cases are among men.

HIV testing is free of charge and 19 facilities provide testing. According to national HIV testing policies, partner notification was voluntary and anonymous. Tests in relation to pregnancy, adoptions and imprisonment are carried out systematically. Moreover, reporting indicate that tests are systematically performed in military recruits and people seeking residence. IDUs, MSM, sex workers and street children are tested as part of the sentinel surveillance activities. All tests were reported as having been conducted with informed consent. Around 263 443 people were tested for HIV in Azerbaijan in 2006. 33 000 were not reported to be pre-test counselled.

Results from a WHO-supported survey conducted in late 2003 show an HIV prevalence of 16.5% among IDUs (13% in Baku and 19.5% in Lenkoran) and a hepatitis C prevalence rate of 55%. These figures are much higher than the routinely collected surveillance data. The most affected group is the so-called street IDUs, a group that remains outside the focus of national HIV prevention and care efforts. Prevalence in this group is 12 times higher than among IDUs registered at narcology centres in Baku. In Lenkoran, all known PLHIV were street IDUs. The number of opiate users is very high in Azerbaijan, and is estimated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to be around 0.2% of the adult population, of which 50-60% inject heroin.

Diagnostic tests among STI patients in 2002, showed 1 out of 3113 patients to be HIV positive. In 2003, a seroprevalence study in Baku among sex workers found 8% to be HIV positive. The prevalence was highest among street sex workers (11%).

628 HIV/AIDS patients have received medical care for their condition in 2006. As of the end of 2006, 8 people were on HAART treatment and by January 2008, 81 HIV patients in Azerbaijan received HAART.

Updated 18 June 2008

References:
European Centre for Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS (EuroHIV). HIV/AIDS surveillance in Europe. End-year report 2006. Saint-Maurice: Institut de Veille Sanitaire, 2007. No. 75.

WHO Regional Office for Europe. Sexually transmitted infections/HIV/AIDS programme. WHO/Europe survey on HIV/AIDS and antiretroviral therapy 2006. WHO: Copenhagen; 2007

WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2004 HIV sentinel surveillance in high-risk groups in Azerbaijan, the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation, Report on a WHO project 01 April 2003–31 March 2004.

Azerbaijan Centre for AIDS Prevention and Control - accessed via The European HIV Prevalence Database: http://eurohiv-database.invs.sante.fr