Prevalence of HIV, HCV and HBV in Central Asia and the Caucasus: A systematic review

BackgroundHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C (HCV) and B (HBV) are substantial public health threats in the region of Central Asia Caucasus, where prevalence these infections is currently rising.MethodsA systematic review MEDLINE, Embase PsycINFO was conducted with no publication date or language restrictions through October 2019. Additional data were also harvested from national surveillance reports, references found discovered sources, other “grey” literature. It included studies on high-risk populations (people who inject drugs (PWID), female sex workers (FSW), men have (MSM), prisoners, migrants) Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Northern Caucasus Russian Federation.ResultsWide ranges noted for HIV prevalence: PWID 0–30.1%, MSM 0–25.1%, prisoners 0–22.8%, FSW 0–10.0%, migrants 0.06–1.5%, highest groups reported Kazakhstan (for PWID), Georgia prisoners) Uzbekistan migrants). HCV had a wide range: 0.3–92.1%, 0–18.9%, 23.8–49.7%, 3.3–17.8%, 0.5–26.5%, (92.1%), Kyrgyzstan (49.7%), Tajikistan (26.5%). Similarly, HBV 2.8–79.7%, 0–22.2%, 2.7–6.2%, 18.4% (one study), 0.3–15.7%.ConclusionIn HIV, remains exceedingly high among selected populations, notably MSM.