HIVNews

PrEP course for doctors started in Kyrgyzstan

On October 12, a new workshop: “Expanding Opportunities – Increasing Reach. Integration of pre-exposure HIV prevention services with the diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis”. The target audience of the course is infectious disease doctors, general practitioners and senior medical personnel.

The course was organized by ECOM with the support of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, as well as the NGO “No to hepatitis”.

The aim of the workshop is to increase the competence level of doctors and senior medical personnel in the interaction of pre-exposure HIV prevention with the diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis.

The course consists of ten weekly online meetings of 2 hours each. Leading speaker of the course – Natalia Voronkova, hepatologist of the highest category, member of EASL and the Russian Society for the Study of the Liver.

“The workshop urgency is determined by the high endemicity of hepatitis B and D in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, ” the organizers emphasized. – According to the data of the epidemiological department of the Ministry of Health of Kyrgyzstan, the absolute number of HBV (D) cases from 2000 to 2019 is 189,640 people (4.7% of the adult population). The incidence of HBV (D) in Kyrgyzstan is higher than in Russia and Kazakhstan (8.5 and 8.8 times). The prevalence of HBV (D) among physicians is 3.6%. Many HBV (D) patients are diagnosed late in the course of the disease when they develop severe complications such as cirrhosis or liver cancer.

114 doctors from 54 ambulatories and inpatient medical institutions of the country have already registered for the workshop.