DUSHANBE, December 2, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- Regional conference on the HIV-AIDS issues will take place in Dushanbe from December 5-6, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Organized by the Ministry of Health in cooperation with CDC (United States), ICAP, UNAIDS, USAID, UNDP, WHO, UNODC, CARHAP and AFEW, the conference is expected to bring together more than 120 specialists in HIV/AIDS issues, researchers, representatives from public institutions and civil society, people living with HIV, as well as representatives of international organizations.

The conference members will also include more than 20 specialists in HIV/AIDS issues and experts from the CIS nations, including Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

According to the statistical data from the Ministry of Health, 3,555 HIV sufferers have been officially registered in Tajikistan to date.  Independent experts, however, consider that the real number of HIV sufferers in the country is much higher that the official figure shows.