Reducing Drug Demand in Central Asia’s Prisons
More than 50 percent of prisoners in ten correctional institutions in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan have received information and counseling from the USAID-funded Drug Demand Reduction Program (DDRP). The program has also trained from 70-100 percent of the target facility staff on HIV/AIDS and drug prevention issues. DDRP’s training courses for correctional institutions are endorsed by the Ministries of Justice of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and are included in the short-term penal system educational curriculum. The program is implemented in part by the AIDS Foundation East West.
To ensure that work continues after the program ends, DDRP supports the Working Groups on Health Promotion in Prisons in each of the three countries. These groups include officials from the respective Ministries of Justice and Interior, national AIDS centers, and representatives from other governmental, non-governmental and international organizations. The groups serve as a forum to discuss collaboration and implementation strategies to sustain drug demand reduction and health promotion education in prison settings.
 |
Uzbekistan’s Working Group on Health Promotion in the Penal System
convenes to discuss drug demand reduction programming
Photo Credit: AFEW/DDRP |
Back to Top ^ |
