Free rapid HIV antibody self-test kit vending machines will be installed at Tashkent International Airport and the Central (Northern) Railway Station by the end of the year, the Director of the Republican AIDS Center Bakhrom Igamberdiev said.

As previously reported, 3,000-4,000 people are tested positive for HIV annually in Uzbekistan, primarily among people aged 30-49, with nearly 80% of cases transmitted sexually. According to Bakhrom Igamberdiev, in recent years, 30-35% of HIV-infected people are labor migrants.

Testing is voluntary and free, he emphasized. Instructions will be posted on the test machines and accessible via QR code.

A passport scan will be required to receive the self-test kit. However, the chief of AIDS Center department, Farrukh Khamroyev assured that this was needed to make sure that only one kit is issued per person, and that the process would be anonymous. "We will only see information about the person's gender and age," he said.

In case of a positive test result, the person is expected to notify the AIDS Center.

Currently, free and anonymous HIV testing is available at any time at the national center's trust offices and in provincial centers. However, the likelihood of people arriving from abroad using them is low. The installation of test vending machines is planned to increase testing coverage and simplify the procedure for citizens.

Farrukh Khamroyev reported that agreements have already been reached with Uzbekistan Airports and Uzbekistan Railways for the installation of the test vending machines. If the project is successful, it will be expanded throughout the country.

On August 1 this year, the Senate passed the bill requiring mandatory HIV testing for Uzbek citizens and foreign residents who have been abroad for 90 days or more. The bill has not yet been signed by the president (meaning it is not yet in effect). International experts call the new regulation discriminatory and in violation of human rights.

Nevertheless, this practice has existed in the country since 2018, when a joint resolution was adopted by the Ministry of Health, the Interior Ministry, the Border Troops of the State Security Service, and the Ministry for Support of Mahallas and the Elderly on HIV prevention measures among migrants and their families. Uzbeks returning from abroad would receive messages from clinics demanding to get an HIV test.