AKIPRESS.COM - The Ministry of Health, Neman-Pharm, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are partnering up to distribute free HIV self-testing kits. The kits will be available in 32 pharmacies in Bishkek, Osh city, and across Chui and Osh regions. The new model of distribution aims to improve access to HIV testing for the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups. The official inauguration ceremony of the self-testing kit distribution took place today in Bishkek.

The testing kits include an HIV test based on saliva, educational materials, prevention products, and contact information about facilities where a person can seek services. Prior to picking them up at the pharmacies, interested individuals must order them online through this website: www.epictest.live

As of 2021, there are 9,200 registered people living with HIV in the Kyrgyz Republic, and while the number of cases remains level and driven by high-risk groups, in much of the world, cases are decreasing.

This activity is part of USAID’s “Meeting Targets and Achieving Epidemic Control” – a five-year, global project funded by the U.S Government’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) that was launched globally 20 years ago. Since 2016, USAID conducted more than half a million HIV tests in the Kyrgyz Republic. Currently, more than 4,000 people living with HIV/AIDS receive lifesaving, antiretroviral therapy in the country.