On December 20, 2023 REG held a Roundtable in Baku, Azerbaijan. The goals of this event were
to present to representatives of government bodies and health experts the results of the recent Study “Situational and Economic Analysis on Migration in the context of HIV and TB Services in Azerbaijan”;
to discuss recent migration trends of Azerbaijan citizens and their access to healthcare services including HIV when living abroad, as well as key barriers related to access to healthcare services that Azerbaijan citizens face when residing abroad and upon return in Azerbaijan; and finally,
to develop key recommendations on improving access to HIV and TB services for migrants, including remote registration of Azerbaijan citizens who are in migration. Representatives of Republic AIDS center, Research Institute of Lung Diseases, International Organization for Migration, Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society, Public Council under the Ministry of Health, and key NGO including TB Azerbaijan NGO Coalition and Consortium of HIV care NGOs attended the event.
Gunash Jafarova, Republican AIDS Center Deputy Director, presented recent data on HIV in Azerbaijan and the response of National healthcare system to HIV/AIDS. Study project lead Parvana Valiyeva and leading researcher Lelya Suleymanova shared the key findings of the Study and presented suggested recommendations.
During the panel session, participants discussed the recommendations to improve migrants access to HIV and TB care. As a result of the event, REG identified the next steps – initiating direct discussion with Republic AIDS Center to suggest development of a protocol on remote registration and treatment of Azerbaijani migrants living abroad, who have not access to HIV services in countries of destination.