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UN PhotoUNAIDS / TAJIKISTAN HIV FUNDING CUTS
STORY: UNAIDS / TAJIKISTAN HIV FUNDING CUTS
TRT: 05:55
SOURCE: UNAIDS
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNAIDS ON SCREEN
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / RUSSIAN / TAJIK
DATELINE: NOVEMBER 2025, DUSHANBE, TAJIKISTAN
1. Wide shot, fountains in Dushanbe
2. Wide shot, exterior of the City Hall
3. Close up, clock of the City Hall with Tajikistan flag
4. Various shots, crowds
5. Wide shot, a mother sitting with a child on a bench
6. Med shot, mother holding young boy’s hand in a park by City Hall
7. Wide shot, a couple with a child walking
8. Wide shot, Takhmina Haidarova walking with two women whom she mentors
9. Wide shot, Takhmina Haidarova and two women whom she mentors walking into NGO Tajikistan Network of Women Living with HIV
10. Wide shot, Takhmina Haidarova and two women whom she mentors waiting for the elevator
11. Close up, name plate of Tajikistan Network of women living with HIV (in Tajik)
12. Wide shot, Takhmina handing out pamphlets re: “Life without violence”
13. Wide shot, women looking at pamphlets
14. Wide shot, Takhmina at her desk mentoring women
15. Wide shot, exterior of the Republican AIDS Center (which houses Spin-Plus NGO)
16. Close up, sign of Spin-Plus
17. Wide shot, Director Pulod Jamolov of Spin-Plus and colleagues at their office
18. Wide shot, Director Pulod Jamolov and his colleagues
19. Wide shot, co-workers talking
20. Wide shot, young men sitting in waiting room in the Republican AIDS Center
21. Wide shot, young man filling in form prior to health check-up in the Republican AIDS Center
22. Wide shot, male patient sitting down to get an HIV test in the Republican AIDS Center
23. Close up, HIV testing kits
24. Close up, poster of donors: PEPFAR, USAID, EpiC at the Republican AIDS Center
25. Close up, a nurse draws blood from a finger
26. Wide shot, nurse and male patient
27. Close up, HIV diagnostic test
28. Wide shot, young man leaving the Republican AIDS Center
29. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Takhmina Haidarova, Director of the Tajikistan Network of Women Living with HIV:
“At the beginning of 2025, the activities of two community organizations were suspended, and work on outreach, testing, and counseling was significantly reduced. Community-led monitoring—previously an important accountability tool—was also stopped.”
30. Wide shot, a man in a hat getting a refill of HIV treatment from a nurse (a person living with HIV takes daily treatment to keep the virus at bay.)
31. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Takhmina Haidarova, Director of the Tajikistan Network of Women Living with HIV:
“Almost 97 per cent of women living with HIV hide their status even from their families, and 64 per cent face discrimination, including cases from healthcare workers. Without community involvement, many will simply be left behind.”
32. Wide shot, nurse explaining to the man that he needs to take pills at same time daily
33. Close up, pill box
34. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Pulod Jamolov, Director of Spin-Plus:
“Because of these disruptions, breaks, funding stops or major cuts, organizations suffer greatly. People who for years were motivated to work and take part in essential activities for those who do not know their status, for new patients, and for those who need constant support — social support, human support, counselling — are lost. We lose a lot here, because people leave.”
35. Wide shot, Safarkhon Sattorov, Director of the Republican AIDS Center in Tajikistan in his office with colleague and UNAIDS Country Director
36. Wide shot, Safarkhon and colleague looking at computer
37. Close up, small flag display (USA, Tajikistan (red, white, green stripe), USA, far right Kazakhstan (blue))
38. SOUNDBITE (Tajik) Safarkhon Sattorov, Director of the Republican AIDS Center:
“Domestic financing alone is not sufficient to ensure full sustainability. To preserve and build upon current achievements, several measures remain critical: Continued financial support from development partners; Alignment of program design and financing with national priorities, particularly for vulnerable groups; Strengthened cooperation with civil society, which plays a vital role in ensuring access to services and transparent monitoring.”
39. Wide shot, Aziza Hamidova, UNAIDS Country Director at her desk with UNAIDS logo behind her
40. Wide shot, Aziza Hamidova at her desk
41. Wide shot, Aziza Hamidova and colleague
42. Close up, Aziza Hamidova
43. Close up, UNAIDS sign
44. SOUNDBITE (English) Aziza Hamidova, UNAIDS Country Director, Tajikistan:
“If funding is not restored or replaced, our progress will be lost. No country can fight HIV alone.”
45. Wide shot, Aziza Hamidova and colleague
46. SOUNDBITE (English) Aziza Hamidova, UNAIDS Country Director, Tajikistan:
“The HIV response has always been a testament of what humanity can do when we unite. To date, global collective actions have saved millions lives. Tajikistan’s and other countries HIV response is a clear demonstration of the power of global solidarity and smart investments, and it cannot waver now as we are near the 2030 AIDS goal.”
47. Med shot, Aziza Hamidova and colleague
UNAIDS’ new report, ‘Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response’ documents the impact the funding cuts are having around the world notably in Tajikistan.
Takhmina Haidarova acquired HIV from her husband, a labor migrant in the Russian Federation, and was rejected by the family after his death. She admits not even knowing HIV existed in Tajikistan and had no one to turn to. Now, through the Tajikistan Network of Women Living with HIV, she helps other women navigate the isolation she once faced. Such lifelines are at risk of disappearing.
Recent funding freezes and cuts to international HIV assistance threaten to close community-led programmes across the country. The NGO for people at risk or living with HIV who inject drugs, Spin-Plus, is feeling the impact too. Pulod Jamolov, Director of Spin-Plus says the disruptions have meant that people who need constant support - social support, human support, counselling - are lost. On top of that, employees have been cut and organizations have had to close.
Tajikistan is a small, mountainous, landlocked country in central Asia, bordered by Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Despite economic growth, it remains the poorest country in the region, with nearly a third of its gross domestic product coming from remittances. About 60 per cent of the HIV response in Tajikistan depends on international donors, of which about 20 per cent was funded by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) until January 2025.
The country faces deep social and structural challenges—a fragile health system, restrictive laws, gender inequality, and powerful traditional and religious norms that fuel stigma and discrimination. For people living with HIV, these challenges can be overwhelming. Nearly 97 per cent of women living with HIV in Tajikistan conceal their HIV status, even from family members, and 64 per cent report discrimination, including from health-care providers.
National authorities estimate that even a 10–20 per cent reduction in funding could trigger a 135 per cent increase in the number of new HIV infections and a five per cent increase in mortality, erasing years of gains.
