HIV is a communicable disease that attacks the human immune system. It destroys CD4 cells, otherwise known as white blood cells. As time goes on, it weakens the immune system. As a result, it causes opportunistic infections such as fungal infections, tuberculosis and some cancers. Many patients do not feel symptoms of HIV for a few months after infection, and as a result, do not realize they have the disease. Compared to Europe, HIV/AIDS in Azerbaijan is comparatively low, but it is still a significant problem. The rate of new HIV infections increased by 0.09 per 1,000 uninfected people from 0.01 in 1990 to 0.1 in 2024.

Treatments for HIV/AIDS

Antiretroviral treatment (ART) prevents HIV transmission from mother to child through breastfeeding. Patients who use ART can also prevent HIV transmission to their sexual partners. However, patients must take ART every day for life. Moreover, reducing HIV transmission connects to harm reduction approaches, which specifically involves the provision of sterile injecting equipment. It proves that harm reduction services include not only needle and syringe programs but also the provision of opioid agonist treatment (OAT).

The Causes of HIV/AIDS in Azerbaijan

On August 3rd, 2016, there were 4,955 HIV-infected people in Azerbaijan; 73.2% of them were men while 26.8% were women. The most significant cause of HIV/AIDS in Azerbaijan was the use of drugs, accounting for 47% of cases. Meanwhile, the second-highest cause was heterosexual contact at 42.1% and the third-highest cause was unknown causes at 7.8%. Finally, the fourth-highest cause was homosexual acts at 1.8% and the fifth-highest cause was mother-to-child transmission, affecting 1.8%.

In Azerbaijan, HIV infection is a serious problem with many cases being connected to people who injected drugs. According to the official statistics of 2021, injection drug use caused 14% of new HIV infections in the country. Of 690 HIV infections, 97 people were people who injected drugs (PWID).

Treating HIV/AIDS in Azerbaijan

Of the 26,894 people in prison in Azerbaijan, 7,979 people were in prison because of illegal drugs on January 31st, 2023. In prison, HIV prevalence was 1.7% in 2020. ART has been available in prisons resulting in 91.8% prisoners receiving treatment in 2019. However, NSP and opioid substitution therapy (OST) were not accessible.

Access to treatment can be challenging for people in Azerbaijan. For example, the needle/syringe program (NSP) covered only 33.9% for each client, providing 55 needles and the unit cost was approximately €33. Meanwhile, OAT coverage was about 1% in 2024 and the price of it was about €133 per client in a year. However, the unemployment benefit proxy was just €1,245. In prison, imprisonment costs about €3,008 per person per year. A simple community package including NSP and OAT and the unemployment benefit were about €1,411 per person per year.

Women’s Challenges and Barriers to Health Care

According to a Eurasian Women’s Network on AIDS study in 2022, Azerbaijan’s National HIV Program did not particularly support women. The overall plan did not include information on addressing stigma, discrimination and human rights for women experiencing HIV, working as sex workers or using drugs.

Additionally, as the Republican AIDS Center mentioned in May 2025, 10,324 respondents living with HIV/AIDS in Azerbaijan mentioned that they faced stigma and barriers to accessing health care and testing services. According to HIV/AIDS patients, access to stigma-free, confidential testing and treatment services need to be a priority for Azerbaijan’s public health strategy in addition to addressing discrimination.

Progress Addressing HIV/AIDS in Azerbaijan

For the voluntary licensing agreement between the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and ViiV Healthcare in late 2020, Azerbaijan was able to access dolutegravir (DTG) based on the regimens in upper-middle-income countries, which included Azerbaijan, Belarus and Kazakhstan. In addition, ViiV Healthcare and MPP developed the first-of-its-kind agreement to increase access and affordability to DTG-based HIV treatment plans. As a result, Azerbaijan was able to reduce the price by more than 90% through efforts of communities, procurement agencies and others. The government of Azerbaijan began the actions concerning the import of specific syringes to prevent HIV/AIDS in Azerbaijan.

In 2025, the Ministry of Health mentioned that it will allocate $431,000 for the procurement of these specific syringes. As a component of the “Harm Reduction” project, the government will buy the syringes with a “low dead space.” They expect that these syringes will help prevent HIV.

The Azerbaijan Parliament adopted a new law on HIV/AIDS. It concentrated on human rights and the universal accessibility of HIV-related services, including services targeted at drug users who are both in and out of prison. With the support of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and national experts, it could develop these recommendations.

As mentioned by Ali Hassanov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, National legislation and policy had to consider the interests and needs of people who injected drugs and prisoners. He also mentioned that efforts to address the social and economic risk factors for HIV infection were an important part of an efficient strategy to reducing the spread of HIV in the years to come. The social and economic factors meant that they deprived individuals of the power to protect themselves against HIV infection.

In addition, Hadi Rajabli, Chair of the Social Policy Committee mentioned that the new law included the prohibition of discrimination and stigmatization. It contained programs to prevent the contraction of HIV among at-risk groups and prison inmates.

Looking Ahead

The issue of HIV/AIDS in Azerbaijan is still challenging. However, Azerbaijan’s efforts have helped reduce the price of treatments by 90% and it expects that HIV prevention plans will improve. Furthermore, the parliament accepted a new law on HIV/AIDS with the aid of UNODC and national experts.

– Yunjae Lee

Yunjae is based in Vancouver, Canada and focuses on Global Health and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Unsplash