August 2015.
«The procedure for the procurement of antiretroviral therapy through UN agencies will ensure competitive prices, improve the quality of products, and increase the coverage of treatment access».
Today antiretroviral therapy plays a key role in HIV spread reduction. Kazakhstan has all the prerequisites for ensuring antiretroviral drugs provision for people living with HIV on a large scale. A significant reduction in the price of ARV treatment (this issue is now the highest priority) is made possible by using the UN mechanism for the purchase, which is reflected in the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan №1729, from 30.10.2009. Lower prices for ARV drugs will enable more people HIV obtain vital treatment and will prolong and improve quality of life. Scientific evidence suggests that the coverage of antiretroviral treatment reduces the risk of transmission by 90% and reduces the spread of HIV as well, both at the level of a single country, and as a whole, on a global level.
On the 14th of August 2015 in Almaty there was conducted the roundtable
This event was named as "Stop HIV - increase the number of people on ARV treatment." The event was held with the participation of Vinay Saldanha – the Regional Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV / AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Among the participants of the round table were managers and employees of the National Center for Prevention and Control of AIDS, USAID / PEPFAR, UNAIDS, the Kazakhstan Association of PLWH. Participants discussed the new global strategic directions of the international organizations to improve prevention programs. The strategy urges the countries to make a priority the provision of essential services for the prevention and treatment for key population. Such an approach would greatly reduce the number of new HIV infections and deaths from AIDS.
"Countries should increase access to ARV treatment regardless of clinical stage.
Until recently, we were have been waiting for immune status to drop to a certain level to start therapy, nowadays we insist on not to wait, and to all who have confirmed diagnosis should immediately be treated. We urge Kazakhstan to become the first in Central Asia to accede to this practice"- said V. Saldanha.
Kazakhstan Association of People Living with HIV many times raised up the issue of decreasing prices for ARV, ensuring transparency of tenders, as well as import of only high-quality and modern, actively contributing to the treatment. These activities are carried out together with national and international organizations and business structures.
Thus, on May 2015 between the Republican Center for Prevention and Control of AIDS, a subsidiary of "Johnson & Johnson" in the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kazakhstan A of People Living with HIV was signed a tripartite memorandum. The purpose of the memorandum is to expand the possibilities for cooperation between the parties in response to HIV and AIDS on the principles of evidence-based medicine. Due to this memorandum it will be possible to exchange experience in solving problems related to HIV and AIDS; facilitate the participation in international meetings on HIV and AIDS; promote cooperation in order to achieve the objectives of the Action Plan to strengthen cooperation in the area of development to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The project of trilateral cooperation will provide new opportunities for the treatment of HIV infection in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
«The consolidation of efforts of the government, businesses and communities of patient; effective pricing and transparency of the tender procedure for the procurement of modern ARVs will help to maintain health and improve the quality life of thousands of people, and consequently save public funds", - said the President of the Kazakhstan Association and Central Asian Association of PLHIV Nurali Amanzholov.
