Assessment of medication assisted therapy programme in Kazakhstan

In September 2010, ICAP at Columbia University received funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), to work with the Ministries of Health (MOH) and other governmental and non-government partners to strengthen HIV care, treatment and prevention services in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan (the SUPPORT Project).

The assessment of pilot medication assisted therapy (MAT) projects in Kazakhstan is an integral part of the SUPPORT Project’s work plan and results of this assessment will be used for provision of technical support to improve MAT. The purpose of this assessment was to collect information on the scale and quality of the existing MAT services for people who inject drugs (PWID) in Kazakhstan, and to identify any gaps in such services.

The assessment results will be presented to MOH and other stakeholders in order to plan, coordinate and implement interventions to improve opioid drug dependence treatment, particularly MAT, in Kazakhstan. The information will also be used by ICAP to guide the development of strategies and activities aimed at advancing HIV prevention services in the region.

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