Opinion poll shows Armenians vulnerable to HIV/AIDS
27 Oct 2000
Snark
[FBIS Translated Text] Opinion poll shows Armenians vulnerable to HIV/AIDS Text of report by Armenian news agency Snark Yerevan, 27th October: Not only high-risk groups but the entire population of Armenia is vulnerable to HIV infection, the director of the Armenian Centre for Prophylaxis of AIDS, PhD Samvel Grigoryan believes. Grigoryan told a Snark agency correspondent that detailed behavioural research had been conducted among various population groups within the framework of a project entitled "Support for the process of national strategic planning of measures for combatting the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Armenia" supported by the UNDP and UNAIDS programmes. Over 1,500 people - students, refugees, prostitutes, drug addicts, schoolchildren and other population groups were questionned. The level of people's knowledge about HIV/AIDS and behavioural peculiarities (sex life, drug use, etc) were examined through a questionnaire, Grigoryan said. The number of those questioned is quite sufficient for drawing conclusions about the Armenian population's vulnerability to HIV infection. The research revealed the following picture: 67 per cent of the men and 14 per cent of the women questioned had at least one extra sexual partner in the recent year in addition to their main partner. During recent intercourse 38 per cent of the questioned men and 25 per cent of the women did not use a condom. Among the questioned students 10 per cent used drugs once. The majority of the students have a disorderly sex life and only a third of them use condoms. The next stage of the project was directed at analyzing the adequacy of the measures taken in Armenia for combatting the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Grigoryan noted that a detailed analysis had not been made before this project. This prevents us from finding out the actual dimensions of the spread of HIV in Armenia, he said. He believes that the measures for combatting the HIV/AIDS epidemic are inadequate. Underestimation of the problem's importance by the population and state, lack of coordination in inter-institution cooperation and scanty financing considerably restricted opportunities for combatting the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Grigoryan said. Grigoryan also touched upon a situation analysis of HIV/AIDS in Armenia held within the framework of a UN project between March-May this year. He noted that final results had been summarized recently, and that the most conservative estimates said that there were 1,500 HIV-infected people in Armenia, which testified to the high incidence of HIV among the high-risk groups. Grigoryan said that a national strategic plan of measures for combatting the HIV/AIDS epidemic elaborated within the framework of the project had been recently submitted to the Ministry of Health. It will then be coordinated with various interested institutions and submitted to the government. It will probably be endorsed by the end of the year, Grigoryan said. Grigoryan noted that the national strategic plan of measures for combatting the HIV/AIDS epidemic had been elaborated for five years, between 2001-2005. The plan envisages the development of a national policy in the sphere of combatting HIV/AIDS, improvement of the legislative base, development of specialized services and an educational programme, HIV/AIDS prophylaxis among the risk groups, youth, teenagers, safe sex, guarantees of safe blood donations and care for people with HIV/AIDS. Grigoryan reported that the national strategic plan of measures for combatting the HIV/AIDS epidemic would be financed not only by state organizations but also by international ones and NGOs.