Tajik Migrant Workers Bring Back Money, Gifts and Often AIDS From Russia

Tajiks who migrate to Russia for work are returning home for the holiday season bearing gifts, money and often sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS.

In this predominantly Muslim country where the topic of sexuality is rarely broached in public, AIDS has reached such proportions that an education campaign warning of the danger has been running on television. One spot features a father returning home from Russia with toys for his children and a certificate attesting that he is HIV-negative for his wife. Each night in the former Soviet republic, TV ads promote condoms.

"If [STDs] continue to spread at such a high rate, the country will make a big leap in its AIDS cases," said one doctor who requested anonymity. "The men who return home give syphilis and gonorrhea to their wives. They often don't work, don't realize the seriousness of these infections and are content to treat themselves with home-made remedies," the doctor said.

In a country of 6.3 million people, there are 119 official HIV cases but experts estimate the real number may be 20 times higher. In January, the UN provided $2.4 million to help Tajikistan's government with an AIDS prevention program.

Tajikistan is the major smuggling route for Afghan opium headed to Western markets, and drugs and prostitution are rife. Much of Tajikistan's impoverished population is spread out among its mountains, and the level of education about STDs is low.

Experts believe the seasonal migration of an estimated 1.5 million workers to and from Russia only amplifies the potential for AIDS and other STDs.

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