Baku. Konul Kamilgizi - APA. 4171 have been infected with HIV in Azerbaijan in the nine months of this year. 96% of them are the citizens of Azerbaijan, the others are foreigners, Director of the Republican AIDS Center Esmira Almammadova said addressing the international conference on the theme “Awareness raising on HIV testing of teenagers during world AIDS week”, APA reports.
She said 1248 are on the stage of AIDS, 578 died of this disease.
“The number of patients joining rescue therapy is increasing. 1627 joined the therapy in the first nine months of this year,” he said.
Almammadova said the major way to prevent the spread of HIV is to undergo testing. She said testing among the teenagers should be made more accessible.
“Irrespective of the level of epidemic, every teenager should have such an opportunity. But we face difficulties with regard to some laws in this field. From the legal point of view teenagers have no right to make such decisions. It is up to parents or trustees to make this decision. This is an urgent problem, the government, Health Ministry and international foundations are taking steps in this regard,” she said.