Georgia - Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS continue to pose a threat to mobile and migrant populations in Europe. Now the countries of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia are teaming up to reduce the threat posed by the two diseases.

A new project, funded by IOM, aims to address the challenges posed by TB and HIV to migrants in the southern Caucasus region. Government representatives from the three countries met with IOM in the Austrian capital Vienna this week to move forward on the project.

“Our world is increasingly mobile,” noted Argentina Szabados, IOM Regional Director for South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. “IOM is committed to ‘leave no one behind,’ as the (UN) Sustainable Development Goals declare. To that end we are supporting the governments and IOM Country Missions in this region to address national and regional migration health-related challenges.”

The project is the first to bring together the three neighbouring countries of the South Caucasus transit corridors, and sets out to develop a migrant-centred regional approach to TB and HIV/AIDS.  It will span two years and include health promotion campaigns focusing on preventive screening and treatment adherence; in-country, cross-border and regional studies to provide the evidence for a TB and HIV/AIDS prevention and surveillance intervention; and the strengthening of health services through training health care professionals and border authorities.

“We want to respond effectively to the common challenge of TB and HIV/AIDS in an area of high geopolitical importance,” said IOM Georgia Chief of Mission and project manager Ilyana Derilova. “Supporting the three governments is an honour to us and we know that our cooperation will help vulnerable migrants through joint response mechanisms.”

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For further information, please contact Ilyana Derilova at IOM Georgia, Tel: +995 32 2252216, Email: iderilova@iom.int.