HIV/AIDS Cases Rising in Provincial Georgia
| Publisher | Institute for War and Peace Reporting |
| Publication Date | 23 December 2011 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | CRS Issue 623 |
| Cite as | Institute for War and Peace Reporting, HIV/AIDS Cases Rising in Provincial Georgia, 23 December 2011, CRS Issue 623, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4f0acaa72.html [accessed 19 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Health experts in western Georgia are concerned about the increasing incidence of new HIV cases.
Recorded cases in Kutaisi, the administrative centre of Imereti region have spiraled from two ten years ago to 400 in 2011.
The head doctor at Kutaisi's infectious diseases clinic, Nana Gongadze, says it is the exponential growth rate of infections that is most alarming.
"Patient numbers in 2010 equalled the totals for 2008 and 2009 put together, and the trend is upward this year, too," she told IWPR. "The three- to fourfold rise in cases is very worrying".
IWPR interviewed a patient at the clinic, Lamzira Chaladze, who contracted HIV via a blood transfusion. She was pregnant at the time, and the child is now a carrier as well. Chaladze won damages in a court case against the medical institution found to be negligent.
As HIV becomes more prevalent, Kutaisi's Centre for Education, Development and Employment is talking to local young people both about how to prevent infection, and about the myths and stereotypes surrounding the virus.
