HIV/AIDS in Georgia : Addressing the Crisis
Georgia is experiencing fast growing HIV/AIDS epidemic, although the prevalence remains at low level. The primary mode of transmission are injecting drug users representing 71 percent of cases, followed by 22 percent heterosexual contacts, 3.6 perc...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Publication |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC: World Bank
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/12/2978192/hivaids-georgia-addressing-crisis http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15054 |
| Summary: | Georgia is experiencing fast growing
HIV/AIDS epidemic, although the prevalence remains at low
level. The primary mode of transmission are injecting drug
users representing 71 percent of cases, followed by 22
percent heterosexual contacts, 3.6 percent homo-bisexual
contacts, 1.4 percent blood recipients, 1 percent of
vertical transmission. From 1989 to 1998 the epidemic
progressed slowly with sporadic occurrences. However, even
at this low level of transmission, the infection had reached
all administrative regions of the country. Since 1996 the
situation has changed dramatically. The number of HIV cases
increased nearly three fold in 1997 compared with the
previous year and accounted for 21 cases. In 2001 alone,
this number reached 93. From 1998 through 2001 more than
half of newly-registered HIV infection cases have been
attributed to IDUs. The reports indicate that the percentage
of new cases attributed to heterosexual contacts have also
increased, although the absolute numbers remain small. More
people (mostly women) appear to be contracting HIV through
sexual transmission, suggesting a shift of the epidemic into
the general population. HIV/AIDS is predominantly present in
the age group of 21-35 years, while children between the
ages of 5 and 15 provide a special opportunity and window of
hope. In 2001, over 87 percent of all new AIDS cases are
detected in the individuals of 26-35 years age group. As
this is the most economically productive segment of the
population, deaths in this age group cause great economic
hardship to the families. Many productive years and
investment in education and training is thus lost. These
deaths also have significant family consequences, since most
people in this age are raising young children. During the
last three years three cases of HIV infection have been
detected among pregnant women, and two cases of vertical
transmission have been reported, thus sexual mode of
transmission becomes apparent. The situation is further
complicated with the transfusion of non-screened blood in
case of emergencies becoming a common practice due to the
failure of adequate public financing on the one hand, while
the number of infected blood donors is increasing on the other. |
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